Solar Flare
by EdwardRoxMySox
Summary: Picks up after Eclipse when Edward and Bella leave the meadow to tell Charlie. The wedding, the 'compromise,' Bella's change, and an unpredictable twist... dont worry u'll luv it, First fanfic! R & R!
1. Chapter 1: Tantrum

**A/N: Hey all! This is my first fanfic! So go easy on me please... Remember, I LUV REVIEWS!**

**BTW I don't own anything except for my plot!!!**

**CHAPTER 1 : TANTRUM**

"Nervous?" Edward guessed as we drove down the road leading to my house. I sat, hypnotized by the glow coming from the ring on the third finger of my left hand. It was as old as it was breathtakingly beautiful. Just like my new fiancé.

"Wow, you're good," I said quietly at an attempt at sarcasm, but my voice was shaky. I sighed, trying to steady my breathing, but I didn't fool anybody. I was very nervous. Edward reached over to take my hand in his. Feeling his icy fingers entwined with mine almost calmed me down. Almost.

It wasn't like I wasn't excited about getting married. It was just the things that go along with it that had me worried to no end… like telling your parents. That ought to be interesting. We happened to be on our way to tell Charlie. To ask him for his blessing. Or maybe beg. And there was no doubt in my mind that this particular conversation would include quite a bit of yelling.

I looked over at Edward Cullen's beautiful face. His golden eyes, his bronze hair, his perfect teeth. I was hesitant at first about getting married, but now that it was actually about to happen, I couldn't think of a better way that my life could have turned out… well, besides all of the hurt. I hurt Jacob, I hurt Edward, and pretty soon, I would be hurting my parents. We could have done without all of the hurt.

The Volvo stopped after what seemed like a rather short ride. It was only about ten o' clock in the morning, surely Charlie would still be kind of tired. But I knew that I had to do it now, before I lost my nerve completely. Edward was at my side in an instant, opening my door. But instead of offering me his hand, he got down on his knees and held his eyes level with mine.

"Are you ready?" he asked, his eyes hypnotic.

"Are you?" I sighed.

"Of course I am," he assured me with a smile. He leaned in and whispered in my ear, "I have been ready for this for a long time." Maybe it was just his closeness that did it, but his confidence somehow seemed to lift my hopes. I was ready, too. He kissed me softly on my cheek before helping me out of the car.

We walked hand-in-hand into the living room of the tiny, two-bedroom house, where Charlie sat predictably on the couch, totally absorbed in some sports talk show.

"Hey, kids," he greeted us, his eyes narrowing when he saw our hands interlocked. For the time being, I did my best to hide my left hand.

"Dad, can we talk?" My voice was still a little shaky, but it carried more volume, and Charlie was too preoccupied in his show to notice anyway.

"Yeah, sure, Bells," he said, reluctantly muting the TV.

I took a few deep breathes, preparing myself. Charlie was beginning to look suspicious, probably fitting my nervousness and my need for Edward's presence together.

"What is it?" he pressed. He looked from me to Edward in earnest. We definitely had his undivided attention.

"Dad--- remember when… when I graduated, and you asked me to… tell you before--- before I did anything… major?" I stuttered. I just couldn't seem to get my words straight.

"Isabella, what is it?" he said forcefully. He was leaning forward, gripping the edge of the couch.

"Edward---," Charlie's eyes narrowed at the mention of his name. "Edward and I are engaged," I said quickly, closing my eyes and bracing myself for the fury. And I certainly got it.

"WHAT!?"

I dared to open my eyes. Charlie's face was literally as red as a tomato. He was standing up now, and he looked as though he was about to explode.

I desperately looked up at Edward. His eyes were shut and he was completely still, probably concentrating on the hundreds of thoughts flying through Charlie's head.

"Dad---"

"NO!" he yelled, taking a step forward and pointing his finger at me with intimidating force. "You don't talk!" He took a few more steps and pointed his finger at Edward instead, who had his eyes open again. "YOU! You owe me an explanation!" Charlie had reached his boiling point.

"I love Bella," Edward stated simply.

"No you don't! You left her! How can we be sure that you won't leave her again!?"

"It was the worst mistake of my life. I left her because I knew that I wasn't good enough for her." Edward's pain began to show in his passionate eyes.

"Oh, you've got that right. She deserves much better!" I couln't believe that those words actually came out of Charlie's mouth. It was definitely a low blow.

"Dad, it was a mistake!" I yelled. It was time for me to intervene.

"No! THIS is a mistake!" I wouldn't have been surprised if he popped an artery. "It you marry _him_, you will be making the biggest mistake of your life!"

"Edward is the best damn thing that has ever happened to me! Don't you DARE way that meeting him was a mistake!" I found myself pointing my finger back at him. I was probably pretty close to my boiling point as well.

"Bella there is no way that you will marry him!"

"Dad, STOP!" I had had enough. He was personally insulting Edward and it was really ticking me off. "Can't you even hear yourself? You are so blind!"

This stopped him in his tracks. He was clearly at a loss for words. He stood, staring blankly at my face, just inches from his.

"When you and Mom ran away together, you didn't tell your parents. You didn't tell anyone! You just left, without even a goodbye. Well look at what we are doing. There is no way that we aren't going through with this, but would you rather us just run off and not even clue you in? We're doing this because you don't deserve to miss out on the chance to walk your only daughter down the aisle. Because ever since I came to Forks, you were good to me, and you deserve to know. Because I care about you enough to tell you!"

At that, he was speechless. I didn't know if he could have moved if he wanted to. We waited.

Charlie's stunned eyes fell and he blinked a few times. He started shaking his head. Then, without warning, he stepped forward and hugged me. "I'm sorry," he whispered. He sounded shaken. "I wasn't thinking."

I patted his back awkwardly. He was never prone to showing emotion. This took me by surprise. "It's alright, Dad. I- I'm sorry I said that stuff."

"No, really, you were right. It's just…" he paused. "It was just a lot of information to take in, that's all. I really am sorry."

I pulled away to stand by Edward. I grabbed his hand and squeezed it. He squeezed back.

Charlie stood there, looking back and forth between me and his soon-to-be son-in-law. He sighed and shifted uneasily. "Look, Edward--- I'm sorry I said those things. I- I really shouldn't have…"

"Sir, it's ok. I couldn't imagine how you must feel right now, but I understand. I can assure you that I will do my best to make sure that Bella is never hurt again." He looked down at me with an exuberant grin.

"Listen, Bells. I'm happy for you. I'm proud of you," he sighed, surrendering.

I couldn't do anything but smile.

"When?"

"August 13," Edward replied proudly.

Charlie smiled a sad smile and held out his hand.

Edward hesitated. Charlie would surely realize how abnormally cold and hard his hands were. But Edward apparently decided that it couldn't hurt, and shook my father's hand.

I laughed. Charlie's eyes went wide when he felt Edward's freezing skin. This whole thing had worked out better than I thought it would. Charlie was happy.

"When are you gonna tell Renee?" he asked.

"I'll call her in a while," I said.

"All right." Charlie looked relieved that I didn't ask him to tell Renee for me. "Well, you should at least tell her soon, she might want to help out a little."

"Alice is already planning the whole thing," I said, noticing my father's predictable reaction to Alice's name. "But I'm sure that she could leave some room for Mom."

We stood there for a few seconds. Charlie's eyes wandered to my left hand. I knew what he wanted and held up the Elizabeth Masen's ring. He stared, the diamonds casting patterns on his bewildered face.

"It's beautiful," he finally muttered.

"It was my mother's ring," Edward stated, with pride coloring his velvet voice. "I inherited it when my parents died."

He looked at Edward with new realization in his eyes. He was probably thinking, _Maybe this kid isn't so bad after all._

"Listen, if you make a mistake," his eyes flickered to his police gear next to the front door, "I'll shoot you."

"I understand," Edward said, smiling widely.

Charlie turned around a slumped back down on the couch, apparently exhausted from his tantrum. He smiled as enthusiastically as he could manage.

"Alice will give you all of the details," I told him.

"I love you, Bells," he said quietly.

He had only told me that he loved me a few times in my life. I almost cried.

"Love you, too, Dad," I said softly.

Then we turned and walked out. I didn't know about Edward, but it felt to me like I was lighter, like something heavy was lifted from my shoulders. But I still felt something there, nagging at the back of my mind. It was something that I was dreading, more than telling Charlie about the engagement... I still had to tell Renee. She was one hundred percent against underaged marriage, and I could only hope that she wouldn't be too mad at me.

_For now,_ I thought,_ I won't think about it._

As soon as the front door was closed behind us, Edward grabbed me up and kissed me, spinning me around in circles. All I could do was squeeze as tight as I could and kiss him back.

I was totally oblivious to everything around me. It was just me and him. So I was caught off guard when all of the sudden, I was sitting in the Volvo and the door was being shut behind me. Not a second too late, he was in the driver's seat, smiling the widest, happiest smile I'd ever seen. I smiled back at him.

"Alice wants to see you," he chuckled.

"I'm sure she can see me just fine," I retorted.

"Clever," he said as we drove off to the Cullen's and whatever unimaginable torture that Alice had planned for me next.

"Any ideas?"

"Not this time. She keeps thinking about pointless things, like TV shows and clothes, so I would guess that she's trying to hid something." He frowned. He never did like not knowing that kind of stuff.

I looked away, at the trees flying be at 120 miles an hour.

"It's so close," I whispered quietly. "Pretty soon I'll be Bella Cullen." I turned to look at him as I spoke.

"And I'll be the luckiest man on the planet," he said with my favorite crooked smile. I would never get tired of that smile, not even after 500 years.

**Pretty good? Horrible? R & R!**


	2. Chapter 2: Thankyou

**K! This chapter might be a little shorter, but it will get better, I promise! Hi, Samara! - Just so you guys know, I try to update every single day and I carry around a little notebook at school just in case I get awsum ideas or just feel like writing, so you won't be disappointed. And I'll warn you if I'm not gonna update for a while. And also when I'm readin fanfics I always like the chapters to be really really long, so thats what I'm gonna try to do with mine. Hope you guys like it. Tell ur friends, review, and remember, Stephenie Meyer is the best!!!**

**BTW I don't own anything that has to do with twilight except for my plot!**

**Chapter 2: Thank-you**

Alice was standing outside of the Cullen mansion as we drove into the little clearing. She was at my door, pulling me out before Edward could get out of the car… which was pretty darn fast.

"Come," she said in monotone as she dragged me toward the door. When we got to the foot of the stairs, she scooped me up and practically flew to her room, with Edward following close behind.

"Stay," she said forcefully in that same monotone voice as she shut the door in his bewildered face. She whirled around toward me, fast enough to make me dizzy, with a huge smile lighting up her pixie-like features.

"Guess what you're going to do today!" she said enthusiastically, dancing to the bed while still dragging me by the arm.

"What, Alice," I said, without attempting to hide my total lack of enthusiasm.

"You're going to write your wedding vows!" She beamed, lighting up the whole room.

My stomach dropped. Vows? Mushy, spill-your-feelings-in-front-of-everybody vows to make it all too clear how romantic you're not? I had no idea what expression I had on my face, but apparently it was enough to make Edward laugh from downstairs. It was probably a mixture of horror and total embarassment.

How could I totally forget about the vows? Edward had probably already written them, but I was never a good writer. Maybe I should just keep it simple. Like _I'll love you forever._ No, way to short. _When I first met you, I felt---_ _Oh what have I gotten myself into!?_

"Have you started on them yet?" Alice asked after a few seconds of silence.

I gulped. "I've thought about them," I lied weakly.

Alice laughed a bright, musical laugh. "Well do you want to write them on your own? Or would you prefer me to help?"

My eyes widened in absolute horror. I heard Edward laugh again. "No thanks, Alice, I think I'll handly them myself."

"Oh, ok." Her face fell. It was probably my imagination, but it seemed like it all of the sudden got a llittle darker in the room.

I couldn't take seeing Alice hurt, so I searched for an alternative. Coming up short, I said, "So what do you want to do today instead?"

She smiled again, apparently overjoyed that I still wanted to spend my day with her. "I don't know. What have we not done yet?"

"You know better than I do."

We sat silently as she thought, until she suddenly exclaimed, "My Maid of Honor dress!"

So, me and Alice shopped... and shopped... and shopped--- for the entire day. Alice would on some dresses, I would critique, and then... she would try on some more dresses. And of course, we spent more time than necessary on shoes.

We had already decided on topaz for the Bride's Maids' (Rosalie and Esme, of course) dresses. Apparently, though, Alice had totally forgotten about her Maid of Honor dress, so today was solely devoted to that. We went from shop to shop to fancy shop, all of them extremely expensive. Alice tried on many beautiful and elegant dresses that exensuated her already perfect figure.

At the end of the day, we made our last stop at a rather high-maintenance French clothing store with a name that I couldn't pronounce. Alice was breathtaking in a spaghetti strap topaz dress that really brought out her matching eyes. Those eyes stared at the mirror absently for a few seconds.

Finally, she stirred. "This is the one," she said with satisfaction and finality, turning back to me. "Do you like it?"

"Of course I do," I said, smiling. It was definately the best one she had tried on all day in my opinion.

"It matches the shoes well," she said, sticking out her foot and observing the shoe from all angles. She wore beautiful three inch, open-toe heels that were perfectly identical to the dress in color.

"So are we finished?" I asked hopefully.

Alice sighed. "I guess so." She always seemed rather disappointed when our shopping trips came to an end. She turned around and strode back into the changing room with inhuman grace. I couldn't wait until I could pull that off, even without three inch heels.

A few seconds later, she danced back out wearing her original outfit, and dragged me to the cashier, with the newly obtained dress and shoes in tow.

"I'll take these," she said in a polite voice.

The woman took the clothes and fumbled with them, ringing them up and putting them in a bag. No one could possibly think straight in a Cullens' presence.

"Here you go, ma'am," she mumbled, handing Alice the bag. "I hope you have a nice day."

"Thank-you," Alice replied pleasantly, taking my hand and pulling me out of the store to her bright yellow porsche.

Soon, we were speeding off toward home.

"Alice?" I asked cautiously.

"Yes?" she replied.

I hesitated, and then asked what was on my mind. "Alice, you know how the wedding turns out. Can you please tell me what happens?"

"No way, Bella. Most women don't have a vampire sister who can see the future. You'll have to wait like every other girl. It's part of the whole experience."

"Please, Alice," I pleaded. "At least tell me if I trip or something like that."

"No, Bella, you don't trip. As for the other stuff, you will just have to wait three more weeks to find out."

I turned away and stared out the window. She was obviously having fun with this. I clearly wouldn't get anything out of her. But at least I had three weeks to try.

"Bella?" Her musical voice broke the silence.

"Yes?" I said in that same monotone voice that she had used earlier.

"We have all told you before, but I'm not completely sure that you understand." She hesitated, as if she was struggling for words.

"Understand what?" I questioned. I watched her with a confused expression on my face.

"How you have changed Edward. What you've done for him."

"Oh, Alice---,"

"Bella, you have made him believe that he still has a chance at salvation. He believes that he has a soul. He believes now because of you."

I didn't know what to say.

"So, thank-you," she said playfully, with a smile lighting up her face.

"Thank-you, Alice," I said seriously.

"For what?"

"For giving me a sister."

"Oh, Bella!" she exclaimed. She took her hands off the steering wheel and flung them around my neck, giving me a bone-crushing hug.

"Alice, the road!" I yelled.

She laughed and presumed driving. We just talked for the rest of the way home, about wedding preperations and officially being part of the same family.

**Hey guys, I need some reviews! If I don't get enough reviews, I'm probably not gona go on with the story, and that would suck because it's a really good plot! If I get at least 15 reviews, I'll give you a clue! Gotta R & R!**


	3. Chapter 3: Sorry

**Hey! Another update. I try not to make it ooc, but I need help from u guys. Tell me what you think! And in case you didn't see the AN at the end of chapter 2, if I get at least 15 reviews, I will give you guys a clue to the plot. Its not one of those plots where you know everything that happens, this is an actual, unpredictable, awesum plot. So review!**

**BTW I don't own anything twilight except for my awsum plot!**

**Chapter 3: Sorry**

I was exhausted when we finally drove into my driveway at 8 o' clock. It had been a long day. We stopped for fastfood just after Alice and I had our little chat. I wasn't hungry, but I wasn't satisfied either. I wouldn't be satisfied until I was in Edward's arms.

When I walked through the front door, Charlie was at the kitchen table drinking some coffee, as if he was expecting to stay up for a long time, waiting for me to get home, I would guess.

He looked up with a relieved expression as I walked into the kitchen.

"Hey, Bells," he said.

"Hey. Why aren't you watching the game?" I asked, puzzled. I had heard him talking to Billy a while ago about some game that was supposed to come on.

He gazed unseeingly out the window. "I just... couldn't seem to focus." He sounded so sad. It occurred to me again how much my change would effect him.

"Bella, could I talk to you?"

"Of course, Dad," I said, although I was very eager to get up to my room, where Edward would be waiting on my bed.

As I walked over to sit in the chair next to him, he shifted in his so that his entire body was facing me. He twiddled his thumbs nervously.

"Is he good to you, Bella?" he finally asked.

"Yes." I really didn't know how else I could have replied. Just a simple _yes_ seemed like a good enough answer. But I could tell that this was going to be a mushy father-daughter conversation. I was sure of it.

He lifted his arm onto the table and rested his head in his hand. "If there was any reason that you were being forced into this, you would tell me right?"

I knew it. He thought I was pregnant. I tried to answer in the most vague way I could think of. "I'm marrying Edward because I love him. And believe me Dad, there is no _reason_ that I would be forced into this." I hoped he got my hint. I hated talking about that kind of stuff out loud. So did he.

Relief washed across his face. He got the hint. But a few seconds later a look of dread came over his face. "You're leaving, aren't you?"

"You already know that I'm going to college." I tried my best to avoid that question. It didn't work.

"No, I mean..." He shifted nervously in his chair. "You're leaving and you won't be coming back... for a while." It still surprised me how perceptive my parents were. Edward always told me how perceptive I was. I must have gotten it from them.

Even if I didn't say it out loud, he would have read it in my eyes. "Yes."

Suddenly, Charlie looked very old. Feeble. Weak. "I'll miss you."

I started to feel the predictable moisture in my eyes. "I'll miss you too, Dad." And then, I leaned in to him and gave him a hug. I was right... mushy father-daughter conversation.

Our mushy moment was suddenly interupted by the annoying ring of the telephone. I got up, wiped my eyes, and walked over to the phone sitting on the counter. "Hello?" I said into the reciever. My voice sounded choked. It would be clear to whoever it was that I had been crying.

"Bella?" I familiar voice said. Quil Ateara.

"Quil? Hey," I said, startled. I hadn't spoken to any of the pack members since just after the battle. But I didn't want to think about that.

"Bella." He sounded relieved, but somehow, still anxious. "Listen, have you seen Jacob? Do you know where he is?"

That hit me hard. "What? No, I--- What happened?"

He cursed under his breathe. "We can't find him anywhere, he's been gone for two days. But wherever he is, we can't hear him, and he didn't leave a trail. Not that we can find anyway."

The tears were pouring out at this point. I didn't know the details, but I knew that it must have something to do with me. It just kept getting worse. But what could I have done to make him run away? What could he have heard that he hadn't known already. How could so much pain be caused by one selfish person.

I buried my face in my hands. Charlie got up from the kitchen table. He could obviously tell that something was terribly wrong, even though I was facing the other direction and he couldn't see my tears.

"Bella, are you still there?" Quil asked after I didn't respond.

I tried my best to hide the hysteria in my voice. "Do you know why?" I didn't really hide it very well.

"No. Billy was the last one who saw him. He just left."

I began to really sob. I couldn't believe that this was really happening. And all because of me.

"I'm so sorry Bella," Quil said with absolute sincerity.

"Don't be sorry, Quil," I choked. "It's not _your_ fault," I implied.

"I promise you, Bella, wewill find him." He sounded like he was trying to convince himself of that more than me.

"I believe you," I whispered and hung up the phone.

"Bella, what happened?" Charlie asked as I faced him, tears rolling down my face uncontrollably.

"Jacob," I sobbed. My voice sounded so strained, it didn't even sound like it belonged to me. "H-he's missing."

"Oh no, Bella," he said as he wrapped his arms around me. But I wanted comfort in someone elses arms. I broke away stuttering, "I-I need some t-time alone, Dad." And I ran up the stairs as fast as my human feet could carry me.

Of course, he was right behind the door of my dark room when I flung it open, and I was in his arms faster than I could comprehend. "I'm sorry, Bella," he whispered comfortingly. "I'm so, so sorry."

"Don't be sorry, Edward," I said weakly. "It's my fault."

"No, Bella, it's not," he said, so quietly that I almost didn't catch it.

"Of course it is, Edward, I---"

"It's my fault," he whispered, just as quietly. I moved back to gaze at the dark outline of his godlike face questioningly. How could he think that?

"How is it your fault?" I said in a hushed voice, puzzled.

He cradled my head into his chest. "I'm so sorry. Please don't be mad at me."

I tried desperately to see his beautiful eyes in the darkness. "Edward, what did you do?" I whispered cautiously.

He took a deep, shaky breathe. "I... sent him an invitation."

"Oh no," I sobbed. That was the reason. That was why he ran away. But it wasn't Edward's fault. I should have never even had anything to do with Jacob Black in the first place.

Edward picked me up tenderly and set me down on the bed, laying next to me.

I wiped my eyes. "There I go breaking my promise again," I said, frustrated.

"What promise?" he asked softly.

"I swore to myself that I would not cry over Jacob again," I said weakly. "Especially in front of you."

"You're worried about your promise? I promised you that I would never lie to you again, and there I went, sending him an invitation behind your back," he said with a dark laugh.

"I'm not mad at you. It's not your fault," I told him, even though I knew that he didn't believe me.

"Do you want me to go look for him?" he asked, his voice filled with pain.

"No. I don't want to take a chance at hurting him again. It seems like whatever I do, I cause him more pain. I've been causing a lot of people pain lately." I reached out and placed my hand on his cheek. He put his hand on top of mine gently. "I love you, Bella."

I smiled, trying to push Jacob out of my mind. "I love you too." We kissed and, like always, broke apart too soon. "I can't wait to be your wife."

I fell asleep in his arms, his velvet voice humming my lulluby.

**Come on, u guys! I've had 299 hits and 3 reviews! Ino u can do better than that! Review, review, review! Luv -**


	4. Chapter 4: Vision

**Hey, readers of all ages! Don't worry I'm not going to stop writing, I think its really really fun. I love being able to make Stephenie Meyer's flawless characters do whatever I want... Muahahaha!!! jk... I've gotten a few more reviews but give me even more! Tell ur friends, please please please times infinity review, and remember, Stephenie Meyer is the best author in the world!!!**

**BTW I don't own anything that has to do with twilight except for my plot!**

**Chapter 4: Vision**

When I woke up, my angel was still holding me in his arms. I leaned in to give him a quick kiss. "Good morning."

"Good morning," he said with a smirk. He was trying to hold back a laugh.

"What?" I asked, getting up and going to the bathroom for a 'human moment.' When I got to the mirrror, I saw why Edward was smirking. My hair was a mess, sticking up in random directions. I ran a brush through it quickly, brushed my teeth, and splashed some cold water on my face.

When I felt fully refreshed, I bounced back into my bedroom in an uncharacteristically good mood, considering yesterday's events. "So what are we going to do today?" I said, jumping into Edward's lap, who was now sitting in the rocking chair.

"Let's go to my house," he suggested, kissing my now smooth hair. "I'll be out front." And he disappeared out my window.

I ran downstairs and greeted Charlie.

"How did you sleep?" he asked wearily.

"Fine, I guess," I said, not wanting to sound too giddy.

"What are you going to do today?" he pressed.

"We're probably gonna meet with Alice, and go over plans and decorations and stuff like that," I said casually. It surprised me how I could just talk that openly in front of Charlie about the wedding. I mean, he had just found out the day before.

"Alright," he said as I ate a bowl of cereal as fast as I could.

As soon as I finished, I walked briskly out of the door where Edward was waiting, leaning against his Volvo, just as beautiful as he always was.

He opened the passenger door, closed it behind me, and was speeding off at 70 miles per hour before I even had a chance to put my seat belt on.

"What are we going to do at your house?" I asked as the speedometer reached 100 miles per hour.

"Alice wants us to go over honeymoon plans," he said with a mischeivious smile. I smiled too.

That raised an interesting question. Where would we go for the honeymoon... and what would we do? The thought made me smile even wider.

"What are you thinking?" Edward asked, noticing my grin.

"Nothing," I said, whiping the smile off my face. He let it slide.

After a few minutes, we drove up to the Cullen's house where Alice was standing with an armful of brochures. Fun.

Edward and I sat at the Cullen's beautiful but 'hardly-ever-used-except-for-the-human-charade' dining room table, spilling the brochures over the surface. There must have been about thirty.

So we went through all of them, weighing our options, and finally narrowed it down to either a Caribbean cruise or Paris.

"How would we go on a cruise if you can't go out in the sun? And I don't think you could wear a jacket, gloves, and a baseball cap without people asking questions," I said, truly curious.

He smiled. "We can stay inside. There's plenty of stuff that we could do to stay entertained," he whispered seductively as his hands snaked around my waist and pulled me closer to him_. I like that idea_, I thought as we kissed, pressing the boundaries just a little bit, but not enough to make us stop. Too bad Alice was the one to do that.

"Focus, kids, there will be time for that later," she said with a smile in her voice. We reluctantly broke apart.

"You know, we can still do the same things in Paris," I muttered as I gave him another quick peck.

"Paris it is, then," he said picking me up and walking past Alice. He threw the Paris brochure at her, which she caught easily with a disapproving look.

When we got to Edward's room, he kicked the door shut behind us, kissing me the whole time, and laid me on the bed without breaking the kiss. "You know, it's getting rather difficult to resist," he said against my lips in his smooth, velvety voice.

"I agree," I said back. The tip of his icy tongue brushed my bottom lip. I loved it when he broke the boundaries. Too bad we couldn't go further until after the wedding. He was right... It _was_ getting hard to resist. I broke the kiss, desperately needing to breathe, and also afraid that we might go too far for me to remember how to stop. He rolled back over onto his side.

"I can't believe we are actually getting married," I whispered, voicing my thoughts. I wasn't repulsed by the idea like I was before. I actually rather enjoyed the fact that I was going to be legally tied to Edward for... existence.

"I can. Alice has always seen it in her visions. One way or another, it would have happened eventually," he mused.

"Just like my change." I looked over at his beautiful face. His jaw was clenched. "Yes, like your change."

"Listen, Edward. I love you more than anything in the world. More than even the prospect of being with you for eternity. That will be even better than heaven." I added that last part in because I knew what he was probably thinking.

"Bella, you are such an innocent person. I hope you know that I still don't like the idea of stopping your heart," he said gently, but with force.

"At least it doesn't disappear completely."

"It's as good as gone once the transformation is over," he countered.

"No matter how dead it might be, it is always there and it will be there forever." I reached over and placed my hand gently on his rock hard chest. It was still there, no matter what he thought.

He put his hand on my cheek. "You didn't deserve to be put in this situation." He said it so quietly, I wasn't even sure that he meant for me to hear it.

"I agree," I whispered. "I never did deserve you." I said, smiling a soft smile. He smiled back half-heartedly and leaned in to give me another tender kiss.

Just then, the door was thrown open by none other than... Alice. She looked totally stressed out.

"We have a problem," she said with a shaky voice.

"What's wrong, Alice?" I asked cautiously. Edward stiffened next to me, obviously seeing everything that he needed to see inside Alice's head.

She took a deep breathe, attempting to calm herself down. "Why don't you come down stairs, Bella. This should be discussed by everyone."

This must be serious. Alice freaking out was never a good sign. But she was prone to overreaction almost as much as Edward was. It couldn't be that bad. Could it?

Edward helped me up and carried me downstairs, where all of the Cullens were already sitting, looking pretty tense. They probably had no more of a clue as to what was going on than I did. Edward sat down on the couch, pulling me into his lap and wrapping his arms around me protectively.

Alice was already in the center of the room. "Ok, everyone. I... I've just had a vision."

"And?" Carlisle prompted after a few seconds of tense silence.

She took another long, deep breathe. "And Bella wasn't in it."

Edward's arms tightened around me. "What do you mean I wasn't in it?" I asked, my voice weak.

"Your future has disappeared."

There was pure silence for at least a minute. I was pretty ashamed to realize that the loudest sound in the whole room was my gradually accelerating breathing.

"Bella, have you had anything to do with the werewolves?" Carlilse finally asked.

"No, I haven't," I said with a shaky voice. "I mean, I talked to Quil Ateara yesterday, but that was it."

"What did Quil say?" Esme asked in a calming voice. I think it actually helped my nerves a little bit.

"He told me..." I hesitated. "He told me that Jacob ran away... two days ago."

Everyone let that sink in for a moment.

"Bella, you know him better than anybody," Jasper said. "How far would he go if he wanted to see you."

We all knew the answer to that question. He would do pretty much anything.

I closed my eyes. "So what do we do until he comes?" I asked softly.

Carlisle stood up with absolute authority. "We wait."

**Yay! I hope u guys like cliffies cuz I do too! Let me know what you think. R & R!!! Luv :) Oh yea, and Samara, if you are reading this, check ur email cuz I need an opinion. Remember, Edward 4ever rox my sox!**


	5. Chapter 5: Great News

**For all of you guys who were frustrated by the cliffy, I'm easing your pain... with another update! Review!!! Remember, Edward 4ever rox my sox!**

**btw I own nothing but the material that comes out of my own head... ... ... Zzz... Zzzzz... jk**

**And another btw, I am probably not going to be able to update for all of Christmas break cuz I'm going to my Dad's ranch and the only computer there is as slow as Bella's (literally) but when I update when I get back, I will have quite a few brand new chapters that I will have written whenever I'm not 4wheeling and horseback riding!!! Luv... Sorry for da huge AN... I'll let you read now...**

So, one could say that me and the Cullen family had a slight problem. Alice couldn't see my future because Jacob had, for some reason, decided to pay me a little visit. And on top of that, we didn't know when. Or, for that matter, _why_. Carlilse was right. All we could do was wait. And waiting was somewhat difficult for some people to do... especially Alice.

I also couldn't deny that I was a little excited. I was going to see Jake again and I knew for sure that he was alright. Although I did wonder whether Jacob was returning for a good reason. It was all just too complicated.

As I came down the flight of stairs for my breakfast, with Edward by my side of course, Alice was pacing back and forth restlessly by the windows, faster than any human would be able to.

"Alice, really, you need to calm down, you're gonna give yourself a..." She stopped pacing to stare at me with a strange look. "Nevermind," I said with a laugh.

"That's easy for you to say, Bella," she said, her tone harsh. "But wait until you have a power and it's taken away from you for some reason as stupid as a damn _dog_!"

Wow, she was really ticked off. But I let that last comment slide. "Come on, Alice, you don't even know if I'm going to have a power yet."

"Yes, of course I don't _know_!" she yelled flying up the stairs and slamming her door louder than necessary.

"Don't pay any attention to her," Edward said, sitting down on the kitchen counter with me in his lap. "She's just a little on edge."

"Is she?" I said sarcastically.

"What do you want to eat?" Edward asked.

"Hmmm..." I jumped down off of his lap and opened the refrigerator. The Cullen's had very generously stocked their fridge with all of my favorites, since they don't really have any room for their own. I decided just on a glass of orange juice. I wasn't that hungry.

When I turned around, Edward was looking disapprovingly at my choice.

"You know, you should take advantage of the time you have to eat human food," he said softly. "You might regret it, once your changed." I could tell he was trying not to scare me. He didn't.

"I won't regret it," I said, but opened up the pantry and got a pop tart. I stuck in the toaster with a smile.

When I finished eating my human food, Edward smiled and said gently, "Don't you think you should call your mother?"

I suddenly felt very nervous. He was right, I couldn't put it off for much longer. It would be much better to face my mother's disapproval and get it over with.

He smiled and tossed me a shiny silver cellphone_. Oh come on, as if he really expects me to catch it_, I thought as it flew threw the air, but to my surprise, it actually found my hands instead of the floor. But I could have sworn that it was just inches from the ground. I looked over at Edward, who was standing innocently in the same spot he had been before. The shock was clear on my face.

"Would I really let you drop it?" he whispered slyly as he took my hand and led me up to his room at human speed. We sat down on his round golden bed and I took a deep breath as I hesitantly dialed Renee's number.

It rang once, and then i heard her joyful voice at the other end. "Bella?"

"Hey, Mom," I said casually.

"Oh Bella, honey, I'm so happy to hear from you!" she said with enthusiasm similar to Alice's. "What have you been up to?"

Of course, that had to be the first question that she asked. I decided that we would just have a normal conversation before I told her. I didn't get to talk to her as much as I used to.

"Oh nothing, just happy that I'm out of highschool for good," I replied. "How are things over there?"

"Just great. But ever since Phil got signed, we haven't had much time together. I don't mind, though, he loves baseball so much."

I desperately searched for something casual to talk about. "Um, well, I've decided what college I want to go to."

"Honey, that's amazing! Which one?"

"The University of Alaska in Juneau," I said.

"Goodness, that's far away. But as long as you're getting a decent education, I guess the place doesn't really matter, does it?"

"No," I muttered, but my nervousness betrayed me. My voice cracked and I only said one freakin word!

"How is Edward?" she asked, beginning to sound suspicious.

"He's great," I said, turning to look into my angels eyes. I knew that in those eyes, I would find the confidence that I needed to break the news to her. He nodded once encouragingly.

"Bella, is everything, alright? You sound a little shaken," she said.

"Sure, Mom, everything's great." _It was now or never._ "It's just... I- I've got some- something to tell you," I stuttered.

"What?"

"It's about me and Edward." I waited. There was silence on the other end of the line. That was never a good sign, especially with Renee. She was hardly ever silent.

When she didn't answer, I closed my eyes and said, "We are going to get married."

"Oh my God, Bella! How could you do this?" she said with horror.

"Mom, please just respect my decision, ok?" I pleaded. "I know what I'm doing."

"Are you sure about that?" she spat. "Are you absolutely sure?"

"Yes, Mom. I want to spend the rest of my life with Edward and that's exactly what I'm going to do."

"You're just so young, Bella," she said hopelessly. She was about to cry, I could tell.

"Just think of it this way," I said gently. "If we wait, we're just prolonging the inevitable."

"Bella..." she sobbed.

"Mom, please, don't cry," I begged.

"I'm sorry, Bella, it's just..." She sobbed some more. "I'm just so happy!"

That really threw me off. "What?"

"I don't want you to make a mistake, but I'm so happy for you! Every mother is happy when their daughter is gets married."

I looked at Edward, who wrapped me in his arms and hugged me tightly.

"I'm glad that you're happy, Mom." Her crying was effecting me a little bit though. My eyes began to water up. "Well, we would like it if you would help us with the wedding."

"Oh, Bella, of course I will!" she cried. "When is it?"

"August 13," I said.

"When can I come down?" She really did sound happy. "I go to a hotel."

"Whenever you want." I would have offered for her to stay at the Cullen's, but they would have to put up with the human charade for quite a while. I didn't want them to have to go through that.

"Ok, Bella, I will come out as soon as I can!" she bubbled. "And, honey, are you sure you're making the right decision about all of this?" she said again.

"Yes."

She laughed. "Well, that's good enough for me! I love you, honey!"

"I love you too," I said happily and hung up. This whole 'telling the parents' thing worked out better than I thought it would. I turned to hand Edward the phone, but he sat as still as a statue. His nose was wrinkled in disgust. I looked at him questioningly.

Finally, he turned to look at me and said, "Jacob." Just then, the doorbell rang.

I jumped up and yelled, "Oh my God!" I ran down the stairs with Edward keeping up with me easily, making sure that I didn't trip and bust my head open. I was surprised that I didn't.

I got to the front door and threw it open, and there was my best friend, Jacob Black. He looked at Edward, who still had his nose wrinkled, and smiled apologetically.

"Jacob!" I yelled as I flung my arms around his neck and squeezed him as tight as I could. I'm sure that he didn't even feel it.

But something was different about him. He looked different. He looked... genuinely happy. "Hey, Bella," he said in that familiar husky voice.

"I was so worried!" I cried.

"I'm sorry about that," he said with a smile. "But I have some great news."

**Oh my GOSH!!! I just found out! THEY CASTED EDWARD IN THE MOVIE! In case you havent heard, its Robert Pattinson. If you don't know who that is, its the guy who played Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter. I have to be honest, I really don't think that he is the best choice, and he better be good at hiding that accent (he's British). Grrr... grrr... He's ok and everything I just don't think that he's Edward material. But I guess we will just have to wait for the movie to find out exactly how good he really is. Grrr... grrr...**

**Ok enough of my ranting. Tell me what you think of my fanfiction, and also, give me your opinion on Robert Pattinson for Edward. It's final so if you don't like it, you will just have to get used to it. Grrr... R & R!!!**


	6. Chapter 6: Dream

**I'm BACK! And I had an awesum xmas, hope u guys did! Since I havent updated in a while, I'm gona be nice and put in another chapter. I really hope u like it!**

**And I got a HORSE 4 xmas!!! She is chocolate brown and really clumsy so I named her Bella! (I'm not that obsessed, I just think that name fits her perfectly.) She's only 7 months old and half the size of a full grown horse and she is the cutest thing I've ever seen!!!**

**Ok I'm dun I'm pretty sure u guys don't care about my xmas. Tell me about ur xmas in reviews, if u want! I'll shut up now and let u read...**

**BTW I own nothing but my plot...**

Chapter 6: Dream

I couldn't believe it! Jake was home! I would have hugged him for five minutes, but I realized how uncomfortable that must be for Edward, so I pulled away, clearing my throat awkwardly. Edward had seen Jacob hold me enough for an eternity.

"How could you do this to us?! How could you leave like that, I was so worried about you, I was afraid you might have gotten hurt..." I went on like this for a good while, rambling on and on like I were his mother.

Finally, he held up his hand and cut me off. "Good news, remember?"

"Sorry," I muttered sheepishly, but I crossed my arms and tried to look forceful.

Jacob chuckled. Apparently, my attempt at forcefullness wan't all that convincing. He turned and looked at Edward cautiously. "Uh, could I speak to Bella alone for a second?"

Edward nodded without a word, let go of my hand after a soft, reassuring squeeze, and shut the door. I laughed out loud at the current situation. A human and a werewolf, having a conversation on a vampire's front porch.

Jacob turned and walked off the porch, pausing to look over his shoulder, and gave me a quick gesture to follow him. Of course he knew that we wouldn't be truly alone until we were far away from the Cullen's mansion, but he settled for the mouth of the dirt lane that led into the clearing. He sat down in the dirt casually, crossing his legs and smiling brightly. I followed his example.

"So, what's been going on?" I said seriously.

He looked down at the reddish-brown dirt. "I've been in Port Angeles most of the time, Bella."

"Where have you been besides Port Angeles?" I asked slowly.

He picked up a handful of the soft dirt and let it fall delicately from his fist. "The forests around Port Angeles," he said simply.

I watched him as he repeatedly picked up the dirt and let it fall back down to the ground. "Why Port Angeles?" I whispered.

He grinned widely. "That's actually the good news." He paused for an agonizing moment, probably to create a dramatic effect. "I met someone," he finally finished.

"Who?"

"A girl," he said.

My heart jumped and I felt a fleeting combination of two emotions. Happiness, for Jacob, that he found someone. And an unexplainable moment of regret, that that someone wasn't me. But I pushed that though away, knowing that it was impossible, and that it was pointless to even think about it. I was already with my true love. Before he could read the expression that was on my face, whatever it was, I smiled. I really was _very _happy for Jake.

"Did you... you know, imprint?" I asked.

"Yes," he said, smiling even wider.

"How do you know?" I said. I wasn't prying, I was truly curious.

"I- I don't know, I can feel it," he said, springing up off the ground. "There's like this part of me that's telling me that this is it. This is really it! I didn't think that it would actually happen to me, but it did." He looked like he could fly.

I jumped up, not able to contain my joy for his joy any longer, and flung my arms around his neck once again. "I'm so happy for you, Jake!"

He pulled back and looked me in the eyes, totally serious again. "I want to come to the wedding, Bella. If that's ok..." He waited cautiously.

"Yes! Yes, of course you can come!" I cried, overjoyed. I had wanted him to be there all along, hoping that there was someway that he could in the end. I felt like I could fly, and he probably did too. "Are you sure that your ok with it?"

He looked at me softly and reassuringly. "I _want_ to come."

We stared at each other happily for one more brief moment, until he said quietly, "I have to go."

As he walked away down the dirt road, I called back to him, "Wait!" He looked back at me. "What's her name?"

"Abbey," he called back, and continued walking, soon disappearing around a bend in the road.

Immediately, I felt a cool hand grab mine. I turned and burried my face into Edward's stone chest, sobbing with pure joy.

"He's happy, Edward," I cried. "He's happy..."

He picked me up gently, cradling me to his chest and before I knew it, he set me back down. I looked around for a few seconds until I realized that he had brought me to the bathroom. I looked back up at him. He smiled his crooked smile.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll take a shower," I said as I turned and pulled back the shower curtain. I looked back over my shoulder to see him still standing there in the doorway.

I walked back up to him and gave him a playful push on his chest, but he didn't move. "Out," I said, pointing at the door. When he stood as still as a statue, looking at me playfully, I pushed as hard as I could, but he didn't budge. He just stared at me with that breathtaking smile. I pushed some more, and he finally turned toward the door, chuckling. "Fine," he said with a fake pout. I closed the door behind him, thankful for my privacy, and locked the door.

I stayed in the shower for about 20 minutes, savoring the feeling of the hot water rushing over my body. I felt completely replenished. Finally I turned off the water, dried off, and got dressed, ready to meet Edward in his bedroom.

When I came in, he was lounging on his bed, and he looked as though he were lost in thought. He stared at the wall across from him.

I strode over and lay next to him on the bed. He finally put his arms around me and pulled me closer to him. He leaned his head agaisnt my wet hair and sighed. "That's better."

We sat there in silence for a few minutes until Edward spoke. "He smelled worse than usual."

"Huh?" I said as I looked questioningly at his pondering face.

"The scent was stronger somehow..." He leaned in and kissed me swiftly on the lips. "It doesn't matter."

It was dark outside now, and I was getting tired. Today, like yesterday, had been a very long day.

Edward began to hum my lullaby, and within moments, I was asleep...

* * *

I was on the beach in La Push. I looked up into the dark night's sky. The moon loomed peacefully overhead, as full and as large as I had ever seen it, surrounded by beautiful stars. It casted millions of sparkles on the water, illuminating the entire beach. I turned around slowly toward the woods to see a breathtaking sight... an enormous silver wolf, standing majestically, about ten feet away. It turned nervously, every move as graceful as the previous one, its fur shimmering and sparkling like silk. As I examined it further, I noticed a deep red wound on its neck, and a trail of blood winding behind it into the woods. I looked at it, and it looked back at me. Its eyes looked somehow human. Without warning, it raised its massive head, closed its eyes, and let out the most beautiful howl that I had ever heard, but still disturbing. It was a begging, pleading sound, as though it were calling for help, help that it desperately needed. As suddenly as it began, it stopped, and it dropped its head. It looked at me, and some part of me knew that the desperate call for help was directed toward me. But what could I do to save this beautiful creature? I was only human... 

**AHH! Another chapter! Plz plz plz review. I have had 1,243 hits and 21 reviews... thats kinda sad in my book. So R&R! I need ur opinions!**


	7. Chapter 7: Wedding Gift

**OMG u guys, I am SOOO sorry I havent updated!!! I had a D in math which is really bad for me because I'm normally a pretty good student. So I had to bring my grade up and no computer time was allowed.**

**So now, to make it up to you, this will be the longest chapter of them all and I hope you guys like it. FLUFF ALERT! **

**Oh and by the way, to lovestruck1990, Jacob is NOT going to do something stupid. I don't like him, but I'm not going to make him do anything OOC. I try to write as much like Stephenie as possible. ****(And also, what is "done to death" supposed to mean... when you guys give me constructive criticism, make sure I can understand it or it doesn't do me any good, plz.)**

**Disclaimer: I've said it 6 times, so by now, it ought to have sunk in...**

**Chapter 7: Wedding Gift**

"Bella?"

Edward was gently shaking me awake. "Bella, are you alright?"

I opened my eyes, straining to see Edward's face in the dark room. "Huh?" I asked, trying to clear my head.

"Are you alright, love?" he whispered softly.

"Yes," I replied with a quizzical look. _Why wouldn't I be okay?_

"You were having a nightmare," he said, now just as confused as I was. "Don't you remember?"

I suddenly became aware of the state I was in... I was sweating, despite the ice cold arms that held me. But, now that I thought about it, I did remeber having a dream. A rather disturbing dream. I remembered something about the moon, sparkles on the water on a beach... and... and...

The dream was too distant to grasp now. I tried as hard as I could to remember, but whatever it was, it was gone. All that I could feel was a since of fear and disturbing inevitability that I couldn't explain...

"You were beginning to get rather loud, I'm surprised that you didn't wake up Charlie," Edward said, his lips right next to my ear.

I turned in his arms to face him. "What did I say?" I asked, hoping that whatever Edward heard would jog my memory.

"It was mostly mumbling and things that I couldn't make out, and like I said, it got pretty loud," he said, a smile in his voice. "But you did keep saying 'I can't help you' over and over again. What was your dream?" he asked, his velvet voice filled with curiosity.

I pondered that for a few moments, but still, I came up empty. "I- I don't remember."

He waited. "Would you like to go back to sleep?" Edward asked after a few seconds. I sat up slowly to look at the clock on my nightstand. 1:20 a.m. _Crap._ There was no way I would get back to sleep, I wasn't tired anymore. "No, I'm up now," I said with a hint of frustration.

"I'm sorry that I woke you," Edward said apologetically, misunderstanding the source of my frustration. "I should have let you sleep."

"Oh no, that's ok," I said quickly. "It's better than Charlie coming in here to check on me. I'd much rather wake up in _your_ arms." I said, snuggling up closer to his chest. He kissed the top of my head and sighed.

"Bella?"

"Yes?"

He hesitated. "Nevermind... Remind me to tell you in the morning."

"It _is_ morning," I countered teasingly.

"I meant when you wake up," he whispered, giving me a light kiss on my forehead.

"I told you, I'm not tired."

"You will be," he said as he pulled me up against his chest and started to hum my lullaby in my ear. It began to work like a drug. I closed my eyes and was sound asleep within a few short minutes.

* * *

I woke up in Edward's arms, just like I did everyday. As soon as he saw that I was awake, he gave me a quick peck on the lips. I sighed, wishing that we could take it a little further than that. But of course, it would have to wait. 

"Are you hungry?" he asked.

I rolled over on my back and stretched, completely content. "A little bit," I replied simply.

"Come on, I'll make you something," he said taking my hand and getting up off the bed.

"You don't have to make anything," I said. I knew that he was mildly repulsed by human food. "I'll just have a pop-tart or something."

He picked me up carefully to keep from making me dizzy and brought me to the bathroom, where I ran a brush through my tangled, knotted hair and brushed my teeth. I couldn't help but let my mind wander to that elusive dream I had had... I could tell that it would be nagging me in the back of my mind for a while.

Edward stood like a statue in the doorway, watching me the whole time. I pretended not to notice.

I knew that Charlie wouldn't be home today. He had gone, once again, on a fishing trip with Billy, and Edward and I had the whole day to ourselves.

Like I said, I took out a pop-tart and stuck it in the microwave. Even though I had my back turned, I was aware that Edward was still watching me, and my self-consciousness kicked in. I turned around and looked back at him. "What?" I asked innocently.

He just casually strolled over to where I was standing and wrapped his arms around me from behind. "Nothing," he said after a few seconds. I turned around to look at him questioningly. "Really, what is it?"

He sighed and took my hand, pressing it against his cold cheek. "I'm going to miss how warm you are," he said softly after a while. I couldn't think of a response for that. I knew how sensitive he was about my transformation and how much he didn't want to do it. I decided not to answer.

Instead, I took out my finished pop-tart and ate it slowly, savoring the taste. When I was done, I remembered what he had said last night.

"What were you talking about last night?" I asked, even though I knew that he didn't need any reminding.

He took my hand and led me to the small table, where he sat down with me on his lap. "Speaking of reminding... when Jacob came over," he said softly, watching my expression, "well... he apparently knew that I was listening to his thoughts and... and he wanted me to remind you about the treaty, specifically you. He knew that I wouldn't bring it up if I didn't have to... he knows me better than I thought."

"But I already know about the treaty, I don't need to be told again," I said.

"The pack wanted him to tell you, but obviously he didn't want to bring it up with you in person. They wanted to make sure that you fully understood the situation..." He hesitated. "... and that it still won't matter if we leave." He watched me, unnaturally still.

I thought about that for a few minutes. Was it really worth it, risking the Cullens' _and_ the werewolves lives just so I could be with Edward? It was, once again, another example of how selfish I was. How far I would go to get what _I _wanted, no matter what the consequences were. I looked down at my hands. They were shaking.

Edward put his hands over mine and kissed my cheek. "It will be fine," he assured me. "We will figure it out."

"How could we possibly figure it out?" I asked, my voice cracking.

He looked directly into my eyes, his topaz ones penetrating. "We will figure it out," he whispered forcefully, and I could hear the determination in his voice. I couldn't help but to believe him.

* * *

My shower was extremely relaxing. The hot water loosened my tense muscles and soothed my troubled mind. I tried not to think about the werewolves, the wedding, the treaty, or anything along those lines... instead, I thought about Edward. I thought about spending eterity with him. I thought about my undying love for him and his love for me. That always soothed me, more than any hot shower ever could. 

And then, I thought about my vows.

I hadn't even made a dent in those, and the wedding was less than three weeks away. I didn't necessarily want to work on them in front of Edward either.

He was going hunting today, though, so that should work out just fine. I would work on my vows while he was gone.

Sighing, I turned off the water and dried off with a towel. I didn't feel like fooling with a blow dryer, so I decided to let my hair air dry today. Instead of going out right away, I stood in front of the mirror for a few minutes, scrutinizing my unperfect features. I couldn't wait to be a vampire, to be perfect, to be able to be compared to my angel.

As I walked into my bedroom, something sitting on my bed caught my eye. It was a piece of paper. A note, written in perfect handwritting, Edward's handwriting...

_**My dearest Bella,**_

_**Come outside. I'll be waiting.**_

_**---Edward**_

_What is he up to? _I wondered. I did what the note said and came outside through the front door.

Edward was standing like an angel, leaning against a car... but it wasn't his silver Volvo. It was a different car. My mouth dropped. "Edward?" was all that I could manage.

"Yes?" he asked mischieviously.

"Y- you... you didn't---"

"Buy you a new car?" he said casually. "Yes, I did."

He strode over to me at an excrutiatingly slow pace, even for me. When he finally got to me, he pulled some keys from the back pocket of his jeans and dropped them into my hand. "It's fast, too," he said with his crooked smile.

It was a blue 2008 Cadillac CTS. Those things started at about $40,000. I couldn't believe my eyes.

"It's mine?" I said, dumbfounded.

"All yours," he whispered. He took my hand and led me over to my new car. I was extremely weak in the knees and I couldn't walk fast enough.

"Would you like to drive it?" he asked, opening the driver's door and motioning inside. It had luxurious gray leather interior and a voice-activated navigator.

"Oh my God," I muttered, still bewildered. "I don't know if I can drive it, what if I crash?" I asked, beginning to cry with joy. I couldn't imagine putting even a scratch on this beautiful car.

"You won't crash," he said reassuringly. "I promise."

"Oh my God!" I yelled excitedly, stumbling into the drivers seat and putting my hands on the steering wheel. It was so smooth. I still couldn't believe that it was really mine.

I put the keys in the ignition and turned. At first, I wasn't even sure that it was on... I was so used to the loud roar of my beat up red chevy. This new car made a low humming sound. It was music to my ears.

I revved the engine a few times, smiling like a freaking idiot over at Edward, who had gotten into the the passenger's seat.

"Just consider it an early wedding gift," he said smiling back. I could tell he was happy that I loved his present.

I hesitantly put it in reverse and carefully backed out of the tiny driveway. I was surprised the car didn't shoot backwards at 60 mph judging by how giddy I was at that moment. Before I knew it, we were on the main road, my new Cadillac running smoothly along, and me still smiling like an idiot.

* * *

"I still can't believe that you did this, Edward," I said as we cruised through the public streets of Port Angeles. That thing rode so smooth and it was a lot of fun to drive. Pedestrians walking on the busy sidewalks turned and watched as the shiny new Cadillac zoomed around a corner. I smiled. It felt like I was flying. 

"You did say that a new _fast_ car was allowable," he reasoned. "This one happens to be extremely fast."

I stopped at a redlight and revved the engine again, turning more heads.

"But it's a Cadillac, Edward. They are so expensive!" I complained.

"It wasn't just me, we all pitched in a little," he explained. "And besides. We have more than enough money to last us for another century or two."

I gave him a dark look.

"Don't worry about it," he told me with a smile.

We were quiet for a few minutes. Then an idea hit me.

"Hey, can we stop for a little bit?" I asked sweetly. "I'm kind of hungry."

"Of course," he replied, as I knew he would.

I wondered how he would react to where I was taking him. After all it was the place where I learned the truth. Well, confirmed it anyway. It was where we went to be alone, truly alone for the first time. I tried to keep my eyes on the road while still measuring Edward's reaction as we pulled into the parking lot of an Italian restaurant. The one that we went to when he saved me from those four thugs. I turned off the ignition and smiled over at him triumphantly. He was grinning back at me.

He leaned over to my side and gave me a long, passionate kiss. And I'm not ashamed to say that we crossed the boundaries... just a little bit. His fingers ran through my hair, his tongue brushed my lips. I had to break the kiss every once in a while to breathe, but other than that, our lips never broke apart. Too bad we had to break apart eventually.

Edward leaned back and said softly, "You were hungry?"

"Not anymore!" I complained.

"Come on," he whispered as he got out of his side and walk at human speed (there were people everywhere) over to my door to open it. _Always a gentleman,_ I thought. We walked hand-in-hand into the restaurant.

There weren't many people there at all. Edward requested, politely of course, the same exact booth that we had sat in the first time we came here. And who walked up to the table? None other than Amber, the girl who waited on us before. We both looked at each other and smiled at the irony.

As she came up to the booth, she was once again stunned by Edward's perfection... and once again, she didn't even notice me.

"What can I get you to drink this afternoon?" she asked dreamily.

Edward, apparently noticing her preoccupation this time, left it to me to order. I just had a glass of water.

When I was done eating, we just talked. About the wedding, and what he thought about it, and what I thought about it. It was nice to just talk.

Suddenly, Edward reach across the table and pulled my face to his, giving me a deep kiss. I would have broken away saying something along the lines of, _not in a restaurant._ But I had lost control of my better judgement. When Edward leaned back again, he glanced toward the kitchen door, where our waitress was watching us, trying to be inconspicuous.

"That was mean," I said, realizing the reason for the kiss.

"Well, she should know that I'm taken, shouldn't she?" he said, with a mischeivious gleam in his topaz eyes. He took my left hand in his and kiss the ring on my third finger. I laughed.

Amber came back to our table with a sullen look on her face to pick up my plate. I gave her a smile and she smiled back half-heartedly. As I stood, she leaned over and whispered in my ear, "Your really lucky, you know that?"

"Yeah, I know," I replied, not able to think of any other response. I did know how lucky I was.

As we walked away, Edward winked at her to cheer her up. It worked. When we walked out of the door, she had an huge grin on her face.

"Can I drive?" Edward asked eagerly when we got to the car.

"Yeah, yeah," I sighed, and handed him the keys. He had a great time the whole drive home. Not me, of course. He was going about 130 miles per hour the entire time. I'm surprised that I didn't tear the arm rests off the seat, I was gripping them so hard.

When we pulled up to the Cullen mansion, Edward began to look tense. _What now?_ I thought. _We had enough to worry about already._ I wondered what Alice had seen.

All of the Cullens were sitting in the living room when we walked inside. They all turned to look at me with a grave look on their faces. Edward hugged me gently and said, "I'm so sorry, Bella."

**You know what, I'm sorry too cuz I'm giving you another cliffy! But be happy cuz I gave you a whole lot to wok with this time! If you want to see a picture of Bella's car, go to Its red in the picture but you can just click on the CTS icon at the top and it will show you Bella's new car!**

**PLZ review! I love it when I have new reviews, it makes my day. If your gona read it, take the time to review and help make the story better! Remember, Edward 4ever rox my sox!!!**


	8. Chapter 8: Preparations

**Hey guys! There were a few people who said that they were going to die of curiosity so I am SO sorry that I havent updated! I have been totally swamped with homework and softball and I've just gotten over a phase of writers block. I kept trying to, but I always felt like the stuff I was writing was really crappy. So I took a break and I think I got over it. I hope u like it!**

**But first, let me clear a few things up...**

**Jacob is NOT going to kidnap Bella!!!**

**Let me say this one more time. I am not going to make Jake do something stupid. As much as it hurts me to admit this, Jake is a charming, caring, good person. He is not stupid.**

**But this isn't going to be a Bella x Jacob fanfiction. Jacob imprinted. It's 100 percent Bella x Edward. But I will tell you that Jacob and Abbey have very significant roles in this story.**

**P.S. The last part of this chapter is in Edward's POV.**

Chapter 8: Preparations

"What is it?" I asked wearily. No one moved except for Alice, who turned her head ever so slightly and looked at Carlisle sitting on the other side of the large living room. He nodded once as encouragement. She turned back to look at me. Embarassingly, I was beginning to hyperventilate, but I didn't care. Her expression was blank, completely calm, and that was very unsettling. Her golden eyes flickered to Edward beside me and then back to me.

Finally after what was probably just a few seconds, but seemed like forever, Edward put his stone hands on my shoulders and turned me towards him. He looked andgry for a split second, almost hostile, and then calmed his expression.

"Bella," he said, but then hesitated. _Please don't say it, please don't say it, _I begged in my mind. _Please, please don't say it._ "Bella... the Volturi," he whispered.

My stomach turned over. He said it. It was what I was afraid of, it was what I had been dreading all along. But no matter now much I didn't want it to, I knew that this day would come eventually.

"They're coming?" I whimpered.

No one answered. No one had to.

"When?" I asked, closing my eyes. I wasn't even sure that I wanted to know the answer.

"A little more than two weeks," Alice answered in monotone.

My knees started to feel weak and I began to sink to the floor. Edward caught me and pulled me against his chest. I was barely consious of my own sobbing.

When I opened my eyes after a few minutes, we were o longer in the living room. Edward and I were in his room alone. He was still cradling me gently in his arms. "Shhh... It's ok, Bella," he soothed.

I wiped my eyes and hugged his neck, kissing him on the cheek. "I'm sorry," I whispered.

"Don't be sorry, love," he said tenderly.

"What are we going to do?" I asked weakly, my voice cracking. He had a hard look on his face, but suddenly, it became soft. "Do you still want to marry me?" he whispered.

I felt offended by the very question. "Of course, I do," I answered, puzzled.

"Do you still want us to... keep our deal?"

"Yes."

"Do you still want to be changed?"

"Yes, Edward," I said. _As if I really had a choice anyway,_ I finished in my mind. I would never say that out loud, especially in front of Edward. Even if I didn't want to be changed, I would have to be. There was no point in thinking about that, though, and I kicked my self inwardly. I had never wanted anything more, besides of course Edward himself. But what was with the sudden interrogation? "Where is this going?"

He smiled half-heartedly. "We have to have the wedding tomorrow."

Alice came into the room at that moment, as if on que, and sat down on the large round bed. "Don't worry, Bella, I will take care of all the preparations."

I turned back to Edward. He leaned his forehead against mine lovingly and we just stood there, looking into each other's eyes. "Are you sure?" I whispered, so low that a human wouldn't have been able to hear it.

"That I still want to marry you?" he asked, incredulous. He waited for me to nod. "I've never wanted anything more in 100 years," he said as he leaned in a few inches and kissed me softly. He pulled back to look at my face.

"We have to change you the day after the wedding." He watched my reaction, as if trying to assure himself that I truly did want this. I tried my best to keep my face calm. I didn't want him to think that I was having second thoughts. That would just create even more unecessary problems. I was extremely nervous, but an anxious kind of nervous. I was anxious to be tied to Edward in every way possible.

"Are you sure it won't be any touble?" I asked, turning to Alice. She smiled.

"IT won't,Bella, I promise. I'll call everyone and tell them about the schedule change right now," she said lightly, skipping out the door and into the hall.

"Alice, wait," I said quickly. She turned back around and stood in the door way. "Who exactly is _everyone_?" She had never actually told about the guest list. I hoped she didn't have too many people to call.

"It's not much, Bella," she said.

I gave her a stern look.

"I'm not kidding! It's just us, your parents, and Jacob with his new _girlfriend,_" she said emphasizing the word and giggling. "... and Tanya's coven."

My mouth dropped. "Tanya's coming?" I wasn't exactly sure how I felt about that. She, along with her sisters, were in love with Edward before he met me. I wondered if their feelings had changed. I could never be able to compete with them.

"It's alright, Bella," Edward said. "Her haircolor hasn't changed."

I laughed, remembering Edward's 'preference for brunettes'. It felt wrong to laugh, considering the current situation.

"What?" Alice asked, puzzled. "What does haircolor have to do with Tanya's coven?"

"Nothing, Alice," Edward said with a smile, even though he still held a hard look in his eyes. "Just go call people or something."

She walked out of the door with a small "hmph," pouting.

Edward and I were alone again. I sighed and sat down on the foot of the massive bed. "How could this happen, Edward?" I finally asked, fresh tears threatening to escape. "Everything was going so perfect."

He was on the bed next to me in a flash, kissing my hand. "We will have to try to avoid the Quillettes. They have no way of knowing that you are changed unless they see you with their own eyes," he reasond. "We don't want to have to deal with the Volturi and the treaty at the same time." He played with the ring on my finger, turning it around and wiggling it.

I kissed him on the lips, taking him by surprise. "I can't wait to be your wife," I told him.

"And I can't wait to be your husband."

* * *

That night, I layed there in Edward's arms, hoping desperately that sleep would find me. We were in my bedroom at Charlie's house. It would be the last night that I would sleep there. If I could get to sleep at all. 

The Volturi were coming. They woul be checking to see if I was still human or not. But it was much more complicated than that. What if I had a power that they were interested in? What if they took me away from my family... from Edward? What if my new family tried to protect me? What if they got hurt? What if... Edward got hurt... ? A single tear ran down my cheek and dropped onto the pillow. Edward heard it with his sensitive ears and reached around to wipe away my tears away with his thumb. He kissed my lips tenderly, sweetly, softly... a kiss that held so much passion that it made my heart ache.

And then I realized. I would be getting married tomorrow to the man that would do anything for me. He would die to save me. I stifled a soft sob. He would stand by me no matter what happened, no matter what the consequences were. He would protect me, from anything, like he always did. I cried soundlessly for a while until finally, sleep enveloped me.

* * *

**(EPOV)**

I watched helplessly as my beautiful Bella cried herself to sleep, and I couldn't do anything but hold her. I listened to her heart as it slowed, every beat bringing her closer and closer to unconsiousness. I savored the wonderful sound. It would stop soon. Too soon. But I couldn't do anything about it. She would be in danger if I didn't change her and I knew, against my better judgement, tha it was what she wanted.

"I'm sorry..." my angel mumbled.

At first I thought that she had woken up, but then realized that the words were too slurred and that she must be dreaming.

"I can't help you... ... I can't save you," she said, and even in her sleep, she sounded distressed. She must be having that nightmare again. I wondered what it had been about and why she couldn't remember it. Or perhaps she did remember it and she didn't want me to know. No, that couldn't be it. My Bella was an aweful liar. I would have been able to tell, either by her voice or by her fluttering heart. It gave her away everytime.

I listened to her talk all night, trying to dissect her words and figure out what she was dreaming about. But she always said the same thing: "I'm sorry... I can't save you." Beads of sweat formed on her forehead and plastered her hair to her face. I put my cold hands on her head in an attempt to cool her down, but it didn't help.

Then, she said something new: "I'm sorry... I'm only a human..."

My dead heart began to hurt for her. That must be it. She always felt held back by her being human. She always felt so weak, so helpless. My poor Bella. As much as I wanted her to stop hurting, I was still afraid that she would feel even worse when she was one of us. My poor, beautiful Bella.

**There it is, and up next, the wedding!!! It will probably be extremely cheesy, corny, and whatever food adjective you could come up with to describe it as really mushy. Be prepared for fluff. Big-time.**

**Have you heard?! They casted the entire Cullen family!!! I'm so excited, the release date is December 12 of this year. It won't come soon enough... sniff...**

**If you want to see the pictures, I have a link to the Twilight series' official website and it has pictures of the Cullen family, you just have to scroll down a little bit. When I see Robert Pattinson in those pictures, I know that he will be a wonderful Edward. He certainly looks the part!**

**R & R!!!**


	9. Chapter 9: Perfect

**Hey guys! This is the moment that uve all been waiting for... (drumroll please)... the wedding!!! It will be packed with cheese, this is going to be sort of a stress releiver for Bella, with all the stuff about the Volturi and her change.**

**MAJOR FLUFF WARNING**

**_READ THIS NOTE!!!_ I have two songs in here for during the reception. I did write down the lyrics so if you don't want to read them you don't have to, but I HIGHLY suggest that you do. Listen to them on YouTube, they are great songs. The first one is Everytime We Touch (slow version) by Cascada, and the second one is Lion by Rebecca St. James. (AND I GIVE THEM FULL CREDIT FOR THESE SONGS!) If you don't listen to the first one, you HAVE to listen to the second one because its almost creepy how much it relates to the series. It even uses the lion metaphor.**

**So, without further ado, ill let u read...**

Chapter 9: Perfect

To my relief, I didn't think about the Volturi. I didn't think about how they would be coming in a little more than two weeks and I didn't think about what they wanted. I didn't even think about how I woke up again this morning sweating and out of breathe, probably from that strange dream that I couldn't remember. I didn't think about any of that stuff.

I thought about Edward. About how we would be together for eternity and how my demands would be fulfilled and how I would be changed. But I must say that I was very, very nervous.

"Bella, what are you thinking?" Alice asked impatiently as she added the finishing touches to my hair in her large bathroom. "Ugh! Now I know what Edward feels like!"

I hadn't been able to see myself in the mirror yet and I was really starting to get fidgety. My heels were rapidly tapping on the floor. Alice had insisted that I wore stilhettoes and I had to admitt, they were beautiful. They were an elegant topaz color that matched my earrings and necklace. But I wasn't entirely sure how long I would last in them.

Alice was wearing that topaz spaghetti strap number that we had bought shopping a few days earlier. Was it really a few days ago? It felt like a lifetime.

To answer her question, I just sighed.

"Yeah, I'll have to agree with Alice," Rosalie murmured with the same impatient tone that Alice had used. "It's killing me not knowing what's going on in your head."

Rosalie wore a long, glorious dress identical to Alice's in color. It was backless and really did her perfect figure justice.

"Are you guys done yet?" I asked.

"Almost, just one last thing," Alice answered, smoothing out the wrinkles in my dress. She stood in front of me and looked over her handy work. "Finished!" she squealed, delighted.

She took my hand and led me to the majestic, floor-length mirror, while I concentrated on trying not to fall. I lifted my eyes from my feet slowly, taking in the beautiful heels that Alice had forced me into, the beautiful dress, my necklace, my hair flowing around my shoulders and cascading down my back in loose curls, and my face. Was this me?

I thought at that moment how different I was from when I came to Forks and now. I had found Edward, and I was getting married to him. I couldn't believe that I was really looking at myself in this mirror. I looked like a Cullen.

Alice had definately not gone overboard... my face looked completely natural. She had kept the make-up light. My skin was glowing with sort of a warm golden hue. I had a little bit of mascera on and a little bit of eyeliner which helped bring out my dark eyes. I didn't have any lipstick or gloss on... like I said, the look was totally natural.

I turned around and gave Alice a huge hug, and surprised myself that I did it without falling. I started to cry.

"And that is why I got water-proof," she said with a smile in her voice, hugging me back gently. "Bella, I wish I could tell you for sure that everything will be alright, but Jacob is here and I can't-"

"Alice," I said cutting her off. "It will be perfect." She didn't argue.

A soft knock came at the door, and Esme came in looking breathtaking in her topaz colored halter dress. "Five minutes, ladies," she said with a warm smile. "Its time to take our places."

"Thank you, Esme," Rosalie replied, and she gave me a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek before striding out the door.

"Bella," Esme said, walking over to me and placing a bouquet of glorious red roses in my hands. "Charlie is waiting for you."

I took a deep breathe, and walked carefully into the hallway, still trying to get used to walking in my heels. Esme noticed my caution and helped me down the stairs to where Charlie was waiting. He stared at me in a way that made me feel extremely self-consious and with, did I just imagine it, tears in his eyes. He took my hand when we got to him and Esme went outside into the mansion's massive backyard.

"You look beautiful, Bells," he said, his voice hoarse.

"Thank-you, Dad," I whispered, hugging him. I didn't think about how this would be my last day with him. I thought about Edward.

He cleared his throat. "I think it's time to start," he said awkwardly, locking our arms and turning toward the door. "I'm so proud of you, Isabella." I kissed him on the cheek.

Music began to play and that pushed my tears over the edge. It was my lulluby. We walked through the door to a beautiful sight.

It was dark out, twilight, and the yard was illuminated my hundreds of candles. There was only a few people, just as Alice said, but I didn't stop to look at them. I looked at Edward. He looked utterly stunning. His flawless face was lit up by a huge grin staring at me in a way that made me a million times more self-consious than I was before. He wore a striking black on black tuxedo that contrasted perfectly with his skin. As I got to him and my lulluby came to an end, Charlie put my hand in Edward's and took his seat after kissing me on the cheek.

As soon as I took my place at the altar and looked into his deep topaz eyes, I got lost in them. I wasn't aware of anything but him. I wasn't even aware of Carlisle preaching about the responsibilities of marriage...

After a while, I faintly heard Edward say "I do," and it wan't until I felt a small squeeze on my hand that I realized that it must have been my turn. "I do," I sighed.

"Edward and Bella have prepared their own vows," Carlisle announced. I appreciated the use of my prefered name. "Bella?"

I had not had time to write my vows and until now, I had absolutely no idea what I was going to say. That was then. But now, I was hit with sudden inspiration.

"Edward. I have spent a long time trying to come up with words that would accurately describe the way that I love you. But the thing is, I can't. It's impossible. Such words don't exist. All I know is that I love you, and I can't wait to spent forever with you by my side." The tears were threatening to spill over.

"Edward?" Carlisle said softly, as if trying not to disrupt this moment.

"Bella. I never believed that you should love me. I never believed that I was good enough for you. I convinced myself that you could find someone so much better. And it led me to the biggest mistake of my life." His eyes burned into mine with an intensity that I had never seen before. "But I want you to know now, that as long as you love me, and as long as you want me, I will always be here to love you back."

It took all of the self control that I had not to throw my arms around him and kiss him right then. I loved him so much. I couldn't believe that I had found him. My tears finally began to fall and I didn't even try to wipe them away.

We exchanged our rings, and finally, Carlisle announced, "I now pronounce you husband and wife." He paused for dramatical effect and Edward glared at him. "Okay, okay, you may kiss the bride!"

Edward put his hand around my waist and pulled me toward him, with his other hand resting on my neck. Our lips met. We were married. My life had just begun.

Our lips moved together for a few seconds, and then, reluctantly it seemed, he pulled away. My new husband had the biggest, widest smile I had ever seen on his face, or on anyone's face for that matter. I'm sure that my smile was pretty big too.

* * *

At the reception, everyone could not stop congratulating us. Finally, Alice shooed them away, and I finally got to sit down on the couch and rest my feet. Edward sat next to me, and kissed my cheek. I sighed. He took my hand and began to rub circles on my palm. 

My eyes wandered around the small crowd in the Cullen's large living room. All of the sudden, I was surrounded by three unfamiliar female vampires, one with striking strawberry-blonde hair. It was Tanya and her sisters, Kate and Irina.

"Hello, I'm Tanya," she said in a light cheerful voice, taking my hand and shaking it. She must have not been used to interaction with humans, because she held my hand a little tighter than I was comfortable with. "You must be Isabella."

"Bella," Edward corrected. The three sisters looked at him and giggled.

"We couldn't wait to meet the girl who got Edward Cullen to fall in love," another said. She had brunette hair, about the color of mine, except her's was more shiny and smoothe. "My name is Kate," she finally said, shaking my hand as well, almost as hard as Tanya had.

"And I'm Irina," the last one said softly. She had jet black hair that shimmered gloriously in the light. She offered me her hand also, except her grip was extremely gentle.

"It's nice to meet you," I said awkwardly, but politely.

"You do smell wonderful, just like Edward said," Kate said enthusiastically. She reminded me a little bit of Alice.

I blushed. Edward pulled me onto his lap and wrapped his arms around my waist, which made me blush even harder. They giggled some more in unison.

"I can see that he didn't exaggerate the blushing either," Tanya laughed.

"Your attention, everyone," Alice called. She didn't have a microphone and she certainly didn't need one. Her high pitched voice cut easily through the crowd. "It is time for Edward and Bella to share their first dance as husband and wife." Everyone turned their attention to us as Edward helped me to the center of the room. You could say that I was a bit nervous at this particular moment.

Edward must have seen it in my eyes. "Don't worry," he whispered in my ear. "I won't let go of you once, I promise." I laughed. That was exactly what he had said when he took me to prom in my junior year.

Alice allowed me to pick out the song that we would dance to. I was glad. I had found two perfect songs that explained exactly how I felt about Edward, as if they were written for us and for us alone. I chose the slower one to go first.

A piano began to play and we started to dance.

_**I still hear your voice when you sleep next to me,**_

_**I still feel your touch in my dreams.**_

_**Forgive me my weakness, but I don't know why,**_

_**Without you it's hard to survive.**_

(Chorus):

**_Cause everytime we touch, I get this feeling,_**

**_And everytime we kiss, I swear I could fly._**

**_Can't you feel my heart beat fast, I want this to last,_**

**_Need you by my side_**

**_And everytime we touch, I feel the static,_**

**_And everytime we kiss, I reach for the sky._**

**_Can't you hear my heart beat so, I can't let you go,_**

**_Want you in my life._**

I felt totally at ease here with Edward. So much, that I began to sing along softly, so that only Edward could hear... and maybe, of course, a few vampires.

**_Your arms are my castle, your heart is my sky,_**

**_They wipe away tears that I cry._**

**_The good and the bad times, we've been through them all,_**

**_You make me rise when I fall._**

(Chorus):

**_Cause everytime we touch, I get this feeling,_**

**_And everytime we kiss, I swear I could fly._**

**_Can't you feel my heart beat fast, I want this to last,_**

**_Need you by my side._**

**_Cause everytime we touch, I feel the static,_**

**_And everytime we kiss, I reach for the sky._**

**_Can't you hear my heart beat so, I can't let you go,_**

**_Want you in my life._**

(Chorus repeat, softer):

**_Cause everytime we touch, I get this feeling,_**

**_And everytime we kiss, I swear I could fly._**

**_Can't you feel my hear beat fast, I want this to last,_**

**_Need you by my side._**

**_Cause everytime we touch, I feel the static,_**

**_And everytime we kiss, I reach for the sky._**

**_Can't you hear my heart beat so, I can't let you go,_**

**_Want you in my life..._**

At the last note of the song, Edward dipped me so low that my hair was touching the ground and kissed me passionately. I didn't care who was there and who was watching, but I never wanted him to stop. I squeezed his neck and held on as tight as I could, kissing him back.

Of course, he had to be the one to break the kiss eventually. He did, and led me back to the couch and sat me on his lap. After a few munites, he froze, listening.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Jacob is outside with his friend," he said with no emotion in his voice whatsoever.

I looked at him, asking permission with my eyes.

"Go ahead. Just try not to touch him too much, I can smell him from here anyway," he joked, smiling.

I got up and walked out the front door.

Jacob was walking toward the dirt road that led out of the clearing. He was accompanied by a girl, who I guessed was Abbey.

"Jacob!" I called, coming after him. He turned back around and met me, holding the girl's hand.

"Hey, Bella," he grinned. "This is Abbey." He gestured toward her with his free hand.

I smiiled at her, but I didn't offer to shake her hand. Jacob's smell would rub off on me and I didn't want Edward to have to smell him the rest of the day.

"Hi, I'm Bella," I said politely.

"Hello," she said back, obviously shy. She was a pretty girl. She wasn't devestatingly beautiful like Rosalie, of course, but she was pretty. She had the said black hair and russet skin that Jacob had. I guessed that she had some relation to the Quillette tribe as well.

"Thank-you both for coming," I said.

"It was our pleasure," Jacob said.

"I wanted to say good-bye," I explained softly, speaking only to Jacob.

He sighed, his smile vanishing. "Just remember the treaty, Bella," he warned reluctantly. "I won't be able to stop the pack from intervening."

"Not even as the Beta?" I joked half-heartedly.

"No," he said, his smile not returning.

"Well, Jake, I have to get back." I turned to Abbey. "It was nice to meet you."

"You, too," she replied sweetly.

"Bye, Jake," I whispered, and I walked back to the mansion.

* * *

I walked inside to see that Edward was still sitting on the couch, and he hadn't moved at all. I crossed the room and settled down on his lap once again. "I told, him good-bye," I explained. 

"I know," he whispered, and kissed me softly on the lips. We were interrupted by Alice, speaking over the crowd once again.

"Ladies and gentleman, it's time for the last dance of the night." She looked noticably less enthusiastic, now that the reception was coming to an end. "Bella would like to dedicate this song to Edward... her lion." I glared at her. That was definately not part of the script.

Edward led me to the center of the living room once again.

"Edward, listen to these lyrics. They're beautiful," I whispered. "And I think they sum up our relationship pretty well."

This song wasn't a 'slow song', but it wasn't fast either. The music began, and we danced.

**_Mysterious, that's what I call you._**

**_I'm curious about you._**

**_I'm scared and I'm not sure that you are safe,_**

**_But your eyes seem to say that you are good._**

I sang along to this song as well. I wanted Edward to know that I really meant it.

(Chorus):

**_This is not a dream that I'm living,_**

**_This is just a world of your own._**

**_You took me from all that I knew,_**

**_Shown me how it feels to hope._**

**_With you with me, facing tomorrow,_**

**_Together I can learn to fly,_**

**_Feels like I'm living in a lion's mouth,_**

**_But the lion is an angel_**

I kissed him quickly on the lips and continued singing along.

**_Wise eyes. You see the core of me._**

**_Your gentleness melts me._**

**_And now I know that words cannot describe_**

**_The power that I feel when I'm with you._**

(Chorus):

**_This is not a dream that I'm living,_**

**_This is just a world of your own._**

**_You took me from all that I knew,_**

**_Shown me how it feels to hope._**

**_With you with me, facing tomorrow,_**

**_Together I can learn to fly,_**

**_Feels like I'm living in a lion's mouth,_**

**_But the lion is..._**

(Bridge):

**_Peace and power,_**

**_Love forever,_**

**_Who am I to s_****_tand before you?_**

**_I am speechless,_**

**_But in my weakness,_**

**_You are here and_**

**_All is well..._**

(Chorus):

**_You took me from all that I knew,_**

**_Shown me how it feels to hope._**

**_With you with me, facing tomorrow,_**

**_Together I can learn to fly._**

**_Feels like I'm living in a lion's mouth,_**

**_But the lion is..._**

(Chorus repeat):

**_This is not a dream that I'm living,_**

**_This is just a world of your own._**

**_You took me from all that I knew,_**

**_Shown me how it feels to hope._**

**_With you with me, facing tomorrow,_**

**_Together I can learn to fly._**

**_Feels like I'm living in a lion's mouth,_**

**_But the lion is an angel..._**

**_Is an angel..._**

The song ended, and Edward's eyes were so beautiful. They were like deep pools of liquid topaz and I was hypnotized. He kissed me more passionately than he ever had before and I hoped that he understood how I felt about him after hearing that song. The only difference was, I wasn't scared of him. Not at all.

* * *

I was standing in my husbands bathroom across the hall from his bedroom. I had just said my good-byes to Charlie and Renee. The worst case scenario was that I would never see them again. The best was that, maybe I could see them in a few years.

All of the guests had left. All of the Cullens had left too, to give me and Edward some privacy. We were about to 'try', and it was my request that we would try before I was changed. I had never done this before, and I was nervous. I had never been so nervous in my entire life...

**As you can probably tell, this was an extremely long chapter. And I'm going to make it longer by restating the obvious... THE SONGS DO NOT BELONG TO ME!!!**

**And another thing, I'm not going to be too discriptive in the next chapter. I'm not going to totally skip over it, but if your looking for lemon, look somewhere else. You won't find it here. I've never written like that, and I don't really want to try.**

**I love reviews! So press the little button right down there and review! Come on, you know you want to...**


	10. Chapter 10: Trying

**I AM SO SORRY!!**

**1) I've been having massive writers block and I still am, I just can't take people being mad at me!**

**2) I'm afraid people will hate this chapter so I've been putting it off.**

**3) I just got back from a 10 day trip to IRELAND with the band. Being a a band nerd has some advantages. It was amazing!! We marched in the St. Patties Day parade in Dublin. If you want to see us, go to you tube and type in Huntsville High Dublin. We have red white and blue uniforms. Really dorky, but we r proud dorks. I mean come on! We went to Ireland!**

**The rest is some interesting stuff that happened on the trip that u probably don't care about, but I'm going to write anyway...**

**1) A couple of freshmen got drunk, becuz as u probably know, there is NO drinking limit in Ireland. It was really funny, every hotel we went to, someone got drunk.**

**2) The Irish people were making fun of us because we were from Alabama!! They were yelling stuff like, "ROLL TIDE!" and "WOW, THEY ACTUALLY GOT 'EM SHOES DOWN IN ALABAMA!" It was really insulting! Not all of us are rednecks, we just have more of them.**

**3) We had a party in one of the hotels, which we were sharing with a band from Pennsilvania at the time and they were making fun of us! The band that was there played _Sweet Home Alabama _just for us! (I requested _The Devil Went Down To Georgia_ by Charlie Daniels just for the heck of it. If your from the South be proud of it... if u haven't heard that song, it is pretty much the most country song you will ever find. Anyway, they couldn't play it cuz the fiddle part was too hard...)**

**4) I was in a gift shop, with a couple of my friends and there was Irish sayings on a huge piece of paper (dont ask me why) and it said something along the lines of "take your friends to the dogs" and I was like what the heck does that mean? The clerk heard me and she looked at me like I was crazy and was like "Dog races," with a really snooty attitude. It really made me mad. Sorry not all of us have the Irish lingo down!**

**5) AND DID YOU KNOW "CULLEN" IS AN IRISH NAME? just thought u mite want to know...**

**READ THIS!!**

**I'm sorry if you don't like this chapter or if its not romantic enough for you, or lemony enough for you. But the whole story duznt revolve around Edward and Bella's wedding night...**

**Ill let you read now. I'm sorry my note was so long. Here it is...**

"Bella?" Edward called from his bedroom. "The anticipation is killing me." I was surprised. His voice was shaking.

I was in his large bathroom in front of the floor length miror, scrutinizing my reflection. The blue silk nightgown Alice had gotten me hugged my curved and hid my flws. It was Edward's favorite shade on me. There was a slit that came to the middle of my thigh and the gwn cut off at my knees. My hair flowed down my back.

I knew that there was nothing more that I had to do, but I was rooted to the spot. I just couldn't get my legs to move, or my hand to reach for the door knob.

"Bella?" Edward asked softly, and I could hear that he was just outside the door. He sounded troubled. "Did you change your mind?"

I reached for the door and opened it without even thinking about it. I had been thinking too much. About how he might not like me, or I might embarass myself, or something along those lines. I just needed to calm down. And what better way to calm down than to see him face to face. To look into the golden eyes of my angel and realize that I didn't want anything more than to be with him.

He was right behind the door when I opened it. When he saw me he froze, his eyes raking over my body. I became extremely self conscious and felt like running back into the bathroom to hide. But the more I looked into his eyes, the more confidence I was building up. After a few minutes of silence, I decided to speak. "Edward?"

He blinked. "You're gorgeous."

He took my hand and led me to the bedroom, where I saw a tray of delicious looking food laying on the large bed. There was an assortment of totally random things: orange juice, chocolate, peanut butter and jelly, etc... and of course, an apple.

"I got a little bit of everything," he said, handing me the tray as I sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Thank you," I said, not really hungry (not even close), but not wanting to hurt his feelings.

I picked up the peanut butter and jelly sandwich and took a small bite, chewing slowly. Edward noticed.

"Nervous?" he asked sitting next to me.

"Wow, you're good," I said, remembering the conversation that we had before we told Charlie about the engagement. It felt like a lifetime ago.

"You don't have to eat if you don't want to, you know," he said quietly. "I brought it up just in case."

I thankfully set down the sandwich and Edward took the tray from my lap. He was gone and back before I could blink.

"You must be exhausted," he said, pulling my legs onto his lap and massaging my feet. It felt heavenly, especially after wearing those darn high heels all day. I closed my eyes and let my head lean back.

"You look beautiful, you know that?" I heard him say. I opened my eyes to look at him. He was gazing at me with love in his eyes.

I pulled my legs away from him and he leaned against the head board, pulling me onto his lap. I let out a sigh and let my head rest on his shoulder.

He traced light patterns on my exposed shoulder with his cold fingertips, making me shiver with delight. He still didn't know the effect that he had on me.

"Today was amazing," I finally breathed. I really was glad that I had given Alice free reign. She had done an amazing job.

"I agree," he breathed into the hollow under my ear. I shivered again, and I felt him smile against my skin.

"You really like having total control over me, don't you?" I asked. I had meant it to sound stern, but that didn't work out to well. He was currently kissing my neck. I loved it when he kissed my neck! At this point I was practically putty in his hands.

"It comes in handy from time to time," he whispered.

"Like... now... for instance?" I was having trouble forming a coherant sentence.

"Mmhmm," he murmured.

I couldn't take it anymore. I had to kiss him. His lips were at my jaw and I turned my head slightly to touch my lips to his. His hands moved lightly and slowly from my shoulders to my waist, massaging my lower back, pulling me closer to him.

Suddenly, he flipped us over so that he was hovering over me and his lips moved to my ear.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked softly.

I was breathing hard. "Yes," I whispered heavily.

He brought our lips together abruptly and kissed me with the most passion I had ever felt from him. One of his hands moved up and down my back, making me shiver, but not from the cold. As he did this, I began to fumble with the buttons on his shirt, and had gotten through two before he reached up and threw it over his head and across the room himself. My hands traced the perfect muscles on his chest and then his abs.

We were both breathing very hard now. Then, he grabbed the soft material of my nightgown and pulled it slowly up over my head and it joined his shirt on the other side of the room...

**A couple days before I was about to post this, I got grounded and my computer was taken away... but I just got it back! So I went to Ireland, had tons of homework, and then got grounded to top it all off. The point is, I am so sorry for taking so long to update! I missed you all so much while I was grounded!**

**I apologize about how short this chapter is and how like half of it is a note. I hope you like it. I'm going to be updating a lot quicker now, or at least I'm gona try to.**

**They casted Jacob in the movie!! He is perfect! He has the ear-to-ear grin down and he is really really cute. Its the boy who played Shark Boy in Shark Boy and Lava Girl. Hate the movie, love the guy!**

**Push the little button down there and review! Flames are welcome.**


	11. Chapter 11: Explaining

**Two chapters in one day! I've impressed myself...**

**I'll make the note short this time.**

**I just wanted to say that today, I was hit with a sudden stroke of literary genious (very uncharacteristic) and I now have the PERFECT plot to this story. I'm so proud of myself!!**

Waking up the next morning was unlike anything I had ever experienced. I saw everything in a new light. The world seemed brighter. I vaguely remembered having that mysterious dream again but I still couldn't remember what it was about. But I didn't care. Edward was kissing my neck gently. I was lying in his arms under the covers, completely naked, I might add. I blushed as I remembered everything that had happened.

I had a small bruise on my left shoulder from when Edward had gotten a little too rough, but regardless, the night was perfect. It had hurt at first, but only because it was my first time. I tried to convince him that it didn't matter, that I was ok, but he was still afraid that he had hurt me. He was crazy. It was the single best night of my life.

He noticed my blush and kissed both of my cheeks.

"Good morning, beautiful," he whispered. He had the biggest smile on his face and his eyes were lit up in happiness.

"Good morning," I said back, biting my bottom lip. I was still a little embarassed.

His smile faltered the slightest bit. "Are you ok?" There he goes again.

"Better than ok," I said giddily and he smiled hugely again.

"I love you too much for your own good," he said.

"What do you mean?"

"What do you mean, what do I mean. You just slept with a vampire," he teased, smiling. Suddenly he was gone, and I was alone in his room. But before I could blink in confusion, he was back, fully clothed in front of me, holding a tray with pancakes and maple syrup and orange juice. "Hungry?"

I pouted. "That's not fair," I mumbled, referring to his ability to put his clothes back on in a matter of milliseconds. Then, I felt kind of a little gust of wind, and all of the sudden, I was sitting up with all of my clothes on and the tray in my lap.

"That's not fair either!" I yelled, hitting him in the shoulder playfully. Of course, it hurt me more than it hurt him.

I ate the meal gratefully, and he sat across from me, watching. Slowly, his grin began to fade until he looked troubled. I looked at him, puzzled, when I had finished my pancakes.

He took the tray out of my lap and set it down next to him. He looked back at me with a grave expression. He was so moody, it made me laugh sometimes. But something in his eyes kept humor out of my mind.

"I have to change you today, love," he said as an answer to my confused look. My heart sped up. With all of the things that had happened in the past day, I had totally forgotten about the change. He noticed my quickening heart rate.

"Are you sure, Bella?" he whispered.

"Yes," I answered simply. One, if I didn't change, the Volturi would kill me. Two, I had just married him. And three, I wanted to be a vampire. I wanted that more than anything, so that I could be with my soul mate for eternity.

"How could you think that this is the best thing for you?" he asked.

"Because what I want more than anything is to be with you, and the only way to do that is to become a vampire."

He sighed, and then his eyes flickered to the floor. Then, I heard talking from downstairs. "They're home," he whispered.

In seconds, the Cullen family filed through the open door of Edward's room one by one, all looking at me apprehensively. I smiled at each of them, to reassure them that I was certain about my decision.

Carlilse spoke first. "So Bella," he spoke softly. "Are you sure that you want this to happen?"

I wished that people would quit asking me that. I looked at Edward, who strangely, was looking at Rosalie, who in turn, was looking at me. I wondered what she was thinking. I turned back to Carlilse. "Yes."

"Bella, can I speak to you alone?" Rosalie asked abruptly.

Everyone looked startled, with the exception of Edward, who had already seen what was coming in her mind. It was no secret that Rosalie had an obvious disappointment with me and my decision, so it was a bit of a surprise to hear her ask a perfectly innocent question like this.

"Of, course," I answered, confused. I got up and followed Rosalie out of the door and into her and Emmett's room. I had never been in her room before, and it was breathtakingly sophisticated. The walls were pure white and there was a beautiful white leather couch in the corner. Unlike Edward's room, their were absolutely no windows. There was a mirror on each wall and I knew that she knew how beautiful she was. I wondered how often she looked in those mirrors.

She turned to me and spoke angrily. "Why are you doing this?" I wondered whether she remembered that they could probably hear every word that we were saying.

"Rosalie, I've already told you," I reasoned. "I love Edward, and I want to be with him forever."

"You don't understand what you are giving up," she countered. "You will never be able to sleep, eat, you won't be able to have children." I knew she would bring that up. She had made it pretty clear during our last private chat. It was her greatest regret that she was never able to have children.

I decided to try a different tactic. "Rosalie, can I try to explain this to you?"

"Please," she said smugly.

"Do you love Emmett?"

She blinked in surprise. She didn't expect that. "Yes," she said quietly, but with much emotion. I knew that she loved Emmett more than anything.

"Would you give him up to be human?" I asked.

She was silent. Her eyes were wide and she looked at the ground. Finally, after a few minutes, she looked back up at me. "I have never thought of it like that," she said softly.

"I love Edward more than anything," I said gently. "More than being human. I would give up anything to be with him."

After a few more seconds, she smiled brilliantly. "I still wish you would reconsider," she added hopefully.

"I'm in too deep, now," I joked. "This is what I want."

She strode over to where I was standing and have me a hug. I hugged her back awkwardly. "I will pray everyday that you don't have any regrets," she said. I began to tear up. Maybe she could begin to think of me as a sister after all.

"Thank-you, Rosalie," I whispered.

"We should get back. I think they're waiting for you."

My heart rate picked up again. I would be changed any minute now. It was a hard thing to swallow, knowing that this morning when I woke up was the last time I would ever sleep. This morning when I ate breakfast was the last time I would ever eat. These last few minutes will be the last of my human life, the last of the life that I was leaving behind. Did I have butterflies? Oh, yeah.

"Don't be nervous," she said tenderly. "It will be over soon."

We walked back to the room together, this time side-by-side. As we walked, I took in the sights of the beautiful house, the smells of the flowers decorating the Cullens' home, the sounds of my even breathing and my footsteps on the floor, the feel of the soft carpet on my bare feet. And as I walked into Edward's room, I took in the sight of the most beautiful people that I have ever met, my new family. Carlilse and Esme, Rosalie and Emmett, Alice and Jasper, and my husband, Edward. I was completely content. Just as I was when I was standing at the altar with Edward, and when he gave me what I wanted on our wedding night, and when I woke up this morning. I was happy, and I would be happy from this day to the end of eternity.

**That's it for now! I'm happy to say that my writers block phase is over (YAY!) and I will be updating way more often (I know that I've said that before, but I mean it this time).**

**Hope you liked it! Push the little button and review!**

**Mandy**


	12. Chapter 12: Transformation

**Hey guys, this is the transformation! Finally, right? I hope I don't disappoint anybody with it. It is very short, but I took my time and wrote it as best I could. I'm a wimp, I had a lump in my throat as I was writing this. I was picturing it as this huge emotional thing and I tried to put it in my writing but I don't know if I succeeded. The only way that I'll know is if you review!**

Edward took my hand and led me over to the bed. Everyone else took that as their cue to leave. They filed out, one-by-one, until me, Edward, and Alice were the only ones left in the room.

My pixie of a sister walked slowly to the bed and took Edward's hand. They made eye contact and I knew that she was telling him something. Then she bent down and kissed me on the cheek. "Good luck, Bella," she whispered, barely audible.

"Thank-you, Alice," I replied gratefully.

"See you on the other side." She left the room in one fluid motion.

Edward lay down on his side and pulled me up against his chest, taking in my smell one last time, while I took in the feel of his cold, marble body against mine.

"What did Alice say?" I asked. I was surprised that my voice wasn't shaking. I wasn't scared, though, just anxious.

"That everything will be alright in the end." He sighed. "She's hiding something from me. She's blocking her mind."

"You'll never catch me betting against Alice. If she says that everything will be ok, I trust her." At least I hoped that everything would be alright. Don't get me wrong, I had doubts, but I knew that I could trust Alice.

Edward was stiff, tense. I turned around so I could kiss his cheek. "I trust you, too, you know."

He laughed. "For a reason that is completely unapparent to me." He paused uneasily, hesitating. "Are you ready?"

"Always." He turned around so that he was leaning on one arm, looking down at me. He played with my hair with his other hand. He leaned down and kissed me, his exuberant lips overflowing with passion. I could feel every single bit of it. After a few minutes of this kissing, he moved to press his lips against my neck tenderly. He opened his mouth as if to get ready, but then paused.

He growled softly and moved away, and instead, put his head on my chest. Listening to my heart.

I could only imagine how hard this must be for him. He had told me himself that one of the things he loved most about me was my eratic heart beat. This would be the last time he could listen to it.

Once again, I wondered if he would love me less after my change. He tried to assure me that that would be impossible. That he loved me for who I was more than anything. But I found that hard to believe. I was so small and insignificant compared to him. I was so selfish. While he, on the other hand, was exceedingly selfless.

But I had to trust Alice. I had to believe that it would be ok.

I combed my fingers through his hair. "It will be alright."

He moved his head again so that his face was level with mine, only about two inches apart. His eyes were scorching, dark with the anticipation of what he was about to do.

I sighed. "You're doing it again."

"What?" His cool breathe washed over my face and clouded my senses.

"Dazzling me." I smiled at the memory. So did he.

He kissed me again. "I love you so much, Bella."

"I love you, too."

He moved his lips to my neck, hesitating again. I could tell that he was having an internal battle. Between what was right, and what both of us wanted. But if it was what we both wanted, then there was no way it could be wrong.

I made myself a vow at that very moment. I would not scream. I would try to hide my agony. I would not make this any harder for Edward than it already was.

Then, he bit down, and I could tell that he was being as gentle as he could. I loved him so much. I didn't deserve him.

I could feel something, something abnormal, moving through my veins close to where he bit me. I could only describe it as a prickly, numb feeling. After a while, Edward didn't move away, and I was beginning to feel light headed. "Edward," I drawled out.

He stiffened and pulled away, growling. He could barely take it. "I'm here, Bella," he said, his voice rough and pained. "I'm here, love." I reached for his hand, and he gladly gave it to me.

I couldn't feel the pain yet, but I became even more apprehensive because I knew what was yet to come. I had felt this pain before.

I couldn't stop myself from letting out a small whimper at what I now felt. Flames were flowing excruciatingly slow through my bloodstream, but I didn't scream. I didn't yell for him to make it stop. I tried to stay strong. "Thank-you," I whispered, afraid that if it was more than that, it would turn into a scream.

"Love, you don't have to be strong," Edward cried, sobbing tearlessly. My tears however, began to blur my vision, and I began to lose sight of my angel. I tried to blink them away, but they were flowing too fast. Eventually, I just gave up and closed my eyes.

I made many involuntary movements as I fought the urge to double over in pain, screaming at the top of my lungs. "Carlisle, give her the morphine!" I heard my angel say. His voice sounded quieter than it should have been. But I knew that I wasn't losing consiousness. The venom kept that from happening. I was slipping into a trance.

I began to hear a low deep pounding in my ears. It got louder and louder until it was all that I heard. I couldn't hear my angel sobbing, I couldn't hear my own whimpers; all I could hear was the beating of my slowly dying heart.

Every time it pounded, pressure built up inside of me, and it felt like I was about to explode. It continued to moved fire through my veins and it hurt more and more every time. I wished it would just stop beating, so the pain would cease. My thoughts became less coherant as I slipped further and further into the trance.

* * *

An immeasurable amount of time passed and my heart didn't stop. Neither did the pain. In fact, it was much, much worse. I focused on the sound of the beating. I wasn't sure, but it sounded slower. Barely.

* * *

At this point, my heart had to have been beating about once every minute. But it was impossible to tell. I couldn't feel the pain anymore. It had come to a climax and then, all of the sudden, it just seemed to fade, until it was just a prickly feeling running around my body, just like at the beginning. The transformation had to have been near an end. I should have been waking up soon.

* * *

I was able to form sensible thoughts now. I felt like this was simply a dream, the kind where you knew that you were asleep and didn't feel like leaving the dream just yet. I decided to enjoy this feeling while I could. It will be the closest thing to sleep I will get to experience for the rest of my existence. I will never have this chance again. But I wished that I would wake up, so that I could see my angel's face again. But I didn't wake up. Surely it had been three days. Surely it was over by now.

I occupied my time by counting the minutes in between my heart beats. My marble body heaved a sigh as my heart made one final attempt to pump the now frozen blood through my body, and then it gave up. It was over. There was movement to my right. I heard it, I felt the air stir, but most of all, I sensed it. I could feel that Edward was there. I opened my eyes, eager to see his face with my new eyes.

**Major Cliffy!! Hope you liked it, once again, sorry about he length, but I tried to write it as best as I could.**

**I was wondering, should I do an Edwards POV as well for when Bella wakes up? It will be easier to explain because there is something that you don't know about the transformation. Something that has never happened before... It will be revealed in the next chapter. Let me know if you want me to do BPOV, EPOV, or both.**

**Mandy**


	13. Chapter 13: What Happened?

**Hey everybody. There were three reasons why I didn't get this chapter out sooner...**

**1) I'm scared of what people will think. I'm taking a big risk here, and I'm afraid people won't like it and stop reading my story. And I don't want that. :(**

**2) It was HARD!! I've spent so much time on this one freaking chapter, its not even funny. But I do it for you guys! And I really, really, _really _hope you like it.**

**3) Writer's Block is a curse... let's leave it at that...**

**I also wanted to point out that I have had help with this story, my brand new Beta, n3v3rm0re, and one of my school band buddies who is either known as samara or darkbloodcross... she's changed her penname alot...**

**Anywho, I really hope you like it, but I won't know for sure unless you review!**

If I was still a human, I wouldn't have noticed everything simultaneously like I did at that moment.

All at the same time, I felt warm air circulating around me. I heard, outside, numerous animals. Birds, deer, mice, even bugs scuttling along the ground near the house. But this wasn't what surprised me... for some reason I could tell what was making the sounds. I could feel that it was a deer moving through the brush about a mile away, a bird skimming the tree tops. It was a strange sensation, just a little tingling in the center of my brain that told me what it was.

I rubbed my hands against the soft cloth of the bed, and I could fell every single fiber. It felt different, like the material was too soft. I could barely feel it at all.

I felt strange. Empty somehow. I thought that maybe it was because my heart was no longer beating, the blood no longer flowing through my veins. Then, I realized it was because I wasn't breathing. I inhaled, deeply and smoothely, as I experienced one of the most important, vital, dangerous senses of a vampire, especially to a newborn. Smell.

I could smell _everything._ Hundreds of different things at once, even though I couldn't distinguish what they were. Although, I did recognize one. I could smell Edward to my right, the same beautiful intoxicating scent that I had gotten to know for the past two years. Except, it was sharper and it didn't cloud my senses.

As soon as I had inhaled, I felt Edward move next to me. I could feel it in the way the air shifted and I could hear his sharp intake of breath as he realized that I had waken up.

I opened my eyes and the brightness of Edward's room replaced the dark. What I saw astounded me. Every texture, every word on books and Edward's CDs, everything. I could see it all. It was like enhanced 3-D. I looked to my right and found what I was looking for. My angel. But he had a troubled look on his face. No, not troubled... stunned.

"Carlilse, Emmett!!" he bellowed. I expected them to be through the door in a second, but it seemed as though they were moving at a human pace as I heard their footsteps in the hall. Then I realized that they hadn't slowed down, my senses had just caught up.

Edward threw his arms around me with a force that should have knocked me down, but it didn't. And Edward didn't feel cold anymore. He wasn't hard either. He felt normal. We were equal now. We felt right. It was a wierd sensation, but I liked it.

"Dammit, Bella." he muttered. "Dammit, dammit... thank God..." There was something wrong. What had happened?

"Edward?" The single word flowed out of my mouth like honey. My voice sounded different. It was almost like Rosalie borrowed my voice or something like that.

As soon as the words came out of my mouth, Emmett and Carlilse walked swiftly into the door. Their expressions were hard to define. Surprised, wary, incredulous. Even though I could tell that something obviously had them distressed, I couldn't bring myself to worry about it. I was very preoccupied with all of these new feelings. But then I noticed something.

"Emmett?" Why did he get called in here? It wasn't like I didn't want to see him or anything, but Edward called specifically for Carlilse and Emmett. They all shared a look, and suddenly, I knew why.

"In case I lost control?" I asked smoothly with perfect articulation. They didn't have to answer. It was no secret that Emmett was the strongest one of the Cullens. If he wasn't enough to restrain me if I lost control, no one was.

I heard them before they came into the room and my head snapped toward the door. The rest of the Cullens were filing into Edward's room. They all had bewildered looks on their faces. Rosalie most of all. All except Alice. She was totally prepared for this situation.

Just then, two birds flitted past the window, drawing my attention back to the woods, and all of the animals inside it. The deer was closer now. I could hear it and I could sense it.

Without warning, I propelled myself toward the window. But seven pairs of strong hands held me back. "Not yet, not yet, Bella," Alice said soothingly.

I struggled for a few seconds, thinking about nothing but the warm blood running through the animals veins, and quenching the sudden, burning thirst in my throat. A liquid was pooling in my mouth and tasted somehow acidic. I could tell that it was my venom. But soon, I regained my composure. The vampires around me slowly loosened their hold.

I had had absolutely no intention of attacking the deer. It was like my muscles acted automatically, pulling me closer to my prey. It was very rash. I quickly looked at Edward, confused. He looked startled. He wasn't used to my swift movements yet.

"Instinct," he answered my unasked question gravely. "You don't even realize that its taken over until after its happened. That is what you have to learn to control."

I looked back outside. I thought about the deer again. It was even closer. I heard a loud snarl and I lept toward the window again, but they wouldn't let me go any further. I then realized that I was the one who snarled.

How could I possibly learn to control that? How can I control it if I can't even tell when its happening? I said, in my flowing honey-like voice, the only thing that I could think of. It sounded as though I was pleading. And maybe I was. "But it's so hard."

"I know, Bella," Jasper said softly. I looked at him. He was trying to calm me down, I could tell.

"I'm so sorry, Jasper," I whispered. I didn't have to say more. He knew what I was apologizing for. He was feeling the exact same feelings I am now, whenever I was in the same general area. How could he have possibly reigned those instincts in? I now had a new respect for Jasper. _I _knew how _he _felt this time.

I looked a them all in earnest. "I'm really thirsty," I begged. The burning in my throat was getting worse by the second, and I knew that whatever I needed to stop it was in that forest... so close. A low rumble came from deep within my chest.

They all looked at Carlilse. He sighed. "We will take you hunting now, Bella, but we must talk with you immediately after."

The rumbling was getting louder, and the burning exponentially worse. "Take me now," I demanded, a little more forcefully than I intended.

They all led me outside where I was hit with hundreds upon hundreds of smells ten times stronger than in Edward's room. I was shaking uncontrollably.

"Edward, you are the fastest," Esme reasoned. "You must try to keep up with her."

They let go of me and I was flying silently through the woods immediately. I could sense Edward on my tail, but I was much faster than him and I didn't even attempt to slow down. I was very thirsty.

There was a sound far to my right and I swerved and dove for it. I caught it and bit into its neck and the warm blood running down my throat felt so good. The feeling was undescribable and the smell of the blood was irresistable.

When I had drained it of every last drop, it was then that I stepped back to see what it was. And it was then, that my dead heart flipped over in my chest. A wolf.

I fell to my knees and started sobbing, without tears of course. I was feeling so many things at once, and this time Jasper wasn't here to calm me down.

I was confused about everything that was happening, the stunned looks that everyone had given me when I woke up, and I still didn't know what had them so worried, what went wrong. _I hate being in the dark._

And I was devestated that my first victim as a newborn vampire had to be a wolf. _I hate the irony._

That wolf had smelled so good. It was like, as a human, I was meant to be with Jacob, and as a vampire, I was meant to be against him. We were now enemies. And there was nothing I could do about it. I was horrified about my new instincts, and scared about what they could make me do. _I hate my instincts._

I could feel that Edward was standing beside me. I could smell his beautiful scent. I stood and wrapped my arms around him, burying my head in his chest and breathing in the soothing aroma. It calmed me immediately. We stood there for a countless amount of time, just enjoying each other's presence. He wasn't ice cold anymore. He wan't hard like stone. He felt normal to me. We were equals now. And we would be like this forever. _I love him._

After a while, though, the uncomfortable feeling in my throat began to creep back into my consiousness. As if he could read my mind, no pun intended, Edward pulled away and sighed. "You should catch a few more things before we go back."

I nodded and began to run once again. Once I had moved away from Edward, I could smell everything else again. I ended up catching a bear and a deer, which almost completely quenched my thirst. I couldn't smell anymore wolves nearby, and I was glad. I didn't want to kill another, but I don't think I could have stopped myself if the smell hit me again. The scent was absolutely delicious.

When I had finished off the deer, I stood and walked back over to Edward at vampire speed. He looked started again. "I don't think I'll ever get used to that," he said, smiling half-heartedly.

"I'm sure you will," I said smoothely.

He leaned down to my level, which actually wasn't very far. I had grown a few inches taller. He locked his eyes with mine. They were scorching, like molten lava. He sighed. "I'm going to miss that too."

"What?"

"Making you blush."

I laughed a beautiful ringing laugh. "I won't."

He smiled a half-smile again.

Suddenly, my head turned to the direction that the rest of the Cullens were in. "They are wondering what's taking us so long," I stated.

Edward looked confused. "How do you know?"

"I don't know," I whispered. It was a strange feeling. I didn't know how, but I knew that they were growing impatient. I could just feel it, that same little sensation in the center of my brain telling me what was going on. "We should get back."

With that, we sprinted back to the Cullen mansion hand in hand. I let Edward keep up with me this time. I was no longer being driven by my instinct. As much anyway. I still had to resist a little bit, but my thirst was pretty much gone.

Running was incredible, and I now knew what Edward had meant by "exhilerating." My feet were touching the forest floor, but they didn't make a sound, which made it feel like I was flying. The trees were zooming past us at an unimaginable speed and we evaded them with ease, jumping left, jumping right, and sometimes letting go of each other's hand so I tree could pass between us, and then locking them together again immediately.

I looked up, and I could see blurs of leaves and branches, and beyond that, the cloudy skies of the Olympic Peninsula. I laughed as I gazed up at the same dull sky that I had grown to love, in my human life, dodging trees all the while.

The Cullens were standing outside their huge mansion when we got back, with those same worried looks still plastered on their faces. I was getting tired of not knowing what was going on. Edward and I approached them briskly, holding hands. He squeezed my hand once.

"Are you going to tell me what's going on?" I asked, a bit irked that I had not found out yet. But I understood that getting me fed was number one on the "list-of-things-to-do-with-your-newborn-vampire."

They all looked at Carlisle. He stepped forward, looking at me in the eyes intently. "Bella," he started. "It is not often that I am at a loss for words."

I said nothing. I just stared right back at him.

He started again.

"It isn't serious. Just odd. Confusing." He looked around at the rest of the family. "I'm sure that you are well aware that the transformation of a vampire takes roughly three days. That wasn't exactly the case for you." He waited.

I glanced at everyone's face. Finally, I found a smile. Alice. She stepped forward. "Your transformation, Bella, took twelve days."

My eyes narrowed. I didn't know what to think of that. While I was in that translike state, I remembered not being able to tell how long it had been. Was I really undergoing that pain for that long? I glanced at Edward, who was looking back at me with an undiscernable expression.

"We didn't know it was possible. None of us expected this," Carlisle said. "Well, most of us," he corrected, looking at Alice.

"You knew?" I asked incredulously. If she knew, why didn't she tell anybody? Surely they were worried that something terrible had happened, that I wouldn't wake up for some unknown reason.

"Yes, I knew," she admitted shamelessly. "But I also knew that if I told you how long the transformation would take, Edward would refuse to bite you. I could see that everything would work out. Of course, I had to try very hard to block my mind from Mr. Nosy over here." She glared jokingly at Edward.

"But why did it take so long?" I asked, still confused. Like Carlilse said, it wasn't a problem, just strange.

"The only things that we have to work with are guesses," Carlilse said. "My best one is due to the fact that the venom had been in your body before. I think that maybe, like a virus, your body must a produced some kind of immune response to the venom. Of course, there is nothing strong enough to stop the venom once it starts. Your body just prolonged the process."

I thought about that theory. It was very logical reasoning on Carlisle's part.

"But nothing is _wrong_ right? Am I just like a typical newborn at this point?" I asked, hoping that the answer was yes.

This time, Jasper stepped forward. "You are far less agressive than most. They usually feed constantly for the first day at least. But that is the only difference. You certainly look like a newborn."

I straightened up immediately. I had totally forgotten that I hadn't seen myself yet. I was suddenly excited. This was the part that I had been most eager for. To be beautiful, to look like the rest of the Cullens.

"I need a mirror," I whispered as I flew into the house and into Edward's massive bathroom within a second. I gasped as I took in the sight before me. The eyes that were staring back at me were disturbing. Blood red. They looked so out of place. And it reminded me of the Volturi and their blood red eyes and the innocent people that were led into that dark chamber to be killed. I shut my eyes and turned around.

Edward was there already, and he put his arms around me comfortingly. "They will change within a year, Bella. Don't worry."

I took my head away from his chest to see that he was holding a box of contacts. I took them gratefully and saw that they were topaz, the same color of his. I smiled and put them in quickly.

When I turned back around, I was rather pleased with what I saw, although I could still see a faint outline of red around the edges of my irises. That was ok, though. It was an improvement.

I decided to focus on the rest of my body. I was paler and my face was soft, but still angular somehow. My eyebrows were more defined, my eyes were not as spaced apart, and my lips were now in proportion with my face. But even with these changes, I was still recognizable.

My face was framed by gorgeous hair, deeper and richer in color, longer, and silky smooth. My eyes travelled down.

My breasts were bigger and my waist was smaller. I was very slender and my pants fit loosely. I was taller too. I was very pleased with these changes and smiled. My own smile took my breath away.

"What do you think?" I asked, turning to Edward.

"Beautiful," he said as he leaned in closer. His lips paused about a centimeter away from mine, and then I kissed him for the first time as a vampire. It felt so different. I had never actually kissed a human before and I had gotten used to his cold marble lips. But now, I imagined that this is how it must feel to everybody else, when a human kisses a human.

His warm lips moved against mine, slowly at first, but then more passionately. His tongue grazed my bottom lip and I met it with mine. The feeling was indescribable.

His hands travelled up and down my back, and I lifted my leg and locked it around his waist tightly. I put my arms around his neck, trying to pull myself even closer to him--

"Ow, not so tight, Bella," he said against my lips. I had forgotten that I was now about ten times stronger than Edward. I pulled away and looked at him mischeiviously. I was about to have fun.

I put my hands against his chest and shoved him backwards out of the bathroom. I smiled wider. Oh, I was going to have a lot of fun.

I kept pushing him back until he was standing with his back facing his enormous bed. I shoved him once more and he fell backward onto the bed and I was immediately on top of him, kissing him passionately again. He, of course, had a huge grin on his face the entire time.

"I could get used to this," I said in between kisses.

"I could too," he replied.

* * *

So far, this transformation was not what I expected. Edward was right, I didn't know what I was getting myself into.

But I was right about one thing. Even now, it was worth it. And I knew that everything would get even better with time.

Even now in Edward's arms, I could feel the burning thirst in the back of my throat, but I knew that that would get better. It didn't matter to me. All that mattered was that Edward was here with me, and he would always be with me, and nothing would change that. I am ready for anything Fate can throw at me, as long as my angel is there to help me face it.

**Once again, I apologize for taking so long with this ch****apter. Like I said earlier, I was scared and it was really hard. But I tried to make it longer than usual just for you. I really hope you like it.**

**I'd like to give a special thanks to Cassie, otherwise known as samara, darkbloodcross, or Alice (haha, she calls me Lil' Bells... sorry, Cassie, I just had to let em know... lol) for helping me out with this chapter. And some of the ideas in this story belong to her too. For instance, she came up with the name, Solar Flare... So thanx again!**

**Next chapter is Edward's point of view of Bella's transformation. (Yay, another hard one... you guys know that I do it all for you...) Review!! PLZ!!**


	14. Chapter 14: Pain EPOV

**I am really mad.**

**Then again, I'm sure you are all pretty darn furious at me as well... huh...**

**Ok, heres what happened... After I last updated, I kinda got in trouble for 'neglecting chores' and no more computer for me!! yay... And then I went to visit my dad in Texas. I stayed there the entire summer. Then I came back and I was still grounded. yay... so now I recently got my computer back, but now, its only for a limited amount of time per day so I still won't be able to update very often, but believe me I will try my hardest. And once again I'm sorry!**

**But whats cool is my step mother is from Thailand and I used to live there but I had forgotten a bunch of the language. But when I go visit my dad and step mom I get to brush up on it again. Yay! **

**And I'm also sorry that this chapter is so freakin short, but Edward's POV is hard, and I knew you guys would at least want to have something... so, I hope you like it considering all that...**

It was the second time I felt helpless in my entire existence.

As I felt her precious blood run down my hungry throat in massive gulps, I knew that I couldn't stop, just like last time. This creature was put on this earth to tempt me, torment me. And I was finally getting what I wanted from it.

I would not stop, could not stop, for anything. This blood tasted so good.

Emmett had done the same thing, so I could not be ashamed afterward. I remember him telling me that there had been two people whose blood called to him in his existence, just like this human's blood called to me. And he had gotten what he wanted from them. I had seen it in his head. This instance was no different, I would handle it just as Emmett did. I would consume every last drop.

Then, I heard the single most beautiful and tortured sound I had ever heard. "Edward." I could barely feel her pathetic grip on my hand. She was weak and getting weaker, and I was the reason for it.

This was an angel. This was Bella. My Bella.

Bella was special to all of us, none of us would be the same without her, and I would not survive at all. She was the very reason for my existence. If I kept drinking from her, I knew in that moment that I would be the cause of both of our deaths.

If anyone had any doubts about where my soul belonged, they would be gone if I kept drinking. I would surely be sent to hell for killing this angel.

So, with a deafening growl, I tore myself away from her tantalizing blood and looked at her eyes. I knew that if I had any chance of controlling myself, it would be if I lost myself in her gorgeous chocolate brown eyes. I knew that I would never see them again. They would be different when she woke up.

"I'm here, Bella," I tried to comfort her. I listened to her heart gravely. Every thump felt like a count down, slowly bringing her closer to the end. Then, came the pain.

I looked deeper into her eyes, past all of the agony, past all the pain, all the hurt, and under it, there was nothing but love and trust. She trusted me with all her heart, and I had almost betrayed that trust. I had just come so close to killing her.

I took comfort in the fact that, when all of this was over, I would no longer be tempted by her blood. She would no longer be in any danger.

She was in pain, but I could tell that she was trying not to show it, trying to hold it in. She was trying to be strong. For me.

Even now, she was so selfless.

"Thank-you," she said softly. It was such a lovely sound, despite the fact that it was drenched in pain. In agony.

"Love, you don't have to be strong," I began to sob.

Then, I realized something. I felt helpless before, when I was drinking her blood. I felt like I couldn't do anything to stop myself. But I know now that I was not helpless. I was greedy. I was selfish. I hadn't wanted to stop.

But now, at this moment, I knew that I was truly helpless. At this moment, when I could do nothing but watch her writhe in pain and know that I was the cause of it. When I could do nothing because I knew that it was what we both wanted. When I could do nothing to take it back because I had already taken too much of her blood. When I knew that I would be too weak to resist killing her if I tasted it again. I knew that I was truly helpless.

Her tears were flowing freely now, her body twitching violently, and she closed her human eyes. I would never see them again.

It was getting worse now, and every move that she made caused me more hurt. She involuntarily curled her toes and balled her hands into fists, and I knew that it was too much for her.

"Carlisle, give her the morphine!" I bellowed, desperate to do anything I could for her. He was in the room immediately with a professional air. But under his carefully constructed mask, I could tell that there was pain as well. Bella's agony hurt us all.

He injected the morphine and turned to me slowly. "That's all we can do now." And we didn't even know if the medication would help at all. But we had to try. Carlisle put his hand on my shoulder comfortingly and left the room.

That was when she screamed. A blood-curdling sound that was somehow still beautiful. Everything about this girl was beautiful, and she was dying. Because of me.

I was helpless...

She was too...

**Once again, I am so sorry! I hope you review and I hope none of you have abandonned this story, but I guess I kinda deserve it, huh?**

**Sam-nam-nah... (That basically means "You get what you get" in Thai lol)**

**Review!!**


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